In the past few months I have heard more and more about mad cow disease. When I first heard the words, I had no clue what it meant, and I certainly did not think it could affect humans. I recently watched a report about Mad Cow Disease and I then realized that it could affect humans. While researching this report I found even more disturbing news, which I will cover later. Although Mad Cow Disease or BSE is just starting to turn up in the U. S., the first reported incident of it happened in 1985 in the U. K. Two years later the only hypothesis was that it was caused by the meat and bone meal in the victims food.

One of my main sources of information has been: http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/UK/10/25/bse.

timeline/index.html It has a timeline of all major events concerning BSE and CJD, which is the human form of BSE. Mad Cow Disease is a fatal condition affecting the nervous system of cattle. In an affected animal, the brain develops tiny holes. The animal loses control over its movements and its behavior changes - so it seems mad.

Another website in which I took the last quote from is http://www.science.org.au/nova/003/003key.htm The human form of BSE, CJD, causes many of the same symptoms. They start out with gradual loss of memory, cramping and continuous screaming, and death always results. Right now tests are being performed to see if BSE can be transferred through milk. So with all the facts presented, will you continue eating beef?

You may also be interested in visiting http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/cjd/qa96bse.htm It has answers to some frequently asked questions that I may not have answered.

A Mad Cow Joke