Mad cow' disease found in goat
I don't eat goat, but still this can't be good.
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Mad cow' disease found in goat
Goat (BBC)
Goat meat is subject to the same strict controls as beef
A French goat has tested positive for mad cow disease - the first animal in the world other than a cow to have bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
The European Commission says further testing will be done to see if the incidence is an isolated one.
The animal, which was slaughtered in 2002, was initially thought to have scrapie, a similar brain-wasting condition sometimes seen in goats.
But British scientists have now confirmed the disease was in fact BSE.
More than 100 people in the UK have died from vCJD (variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease), the human form of BSE, after eating tainted beef.
But the EC stressed on Friday that precautionary measures put in place in recent years to protect the human food chain from contaminated meats meant there was no need for alarm over the latest finding.
Markos Kyprianou, EU Commissioner responsible for Health and Consumer Protection, said: "I want to reassure consumers that existing safety measures in the EU offer a very high level of protection.
"This case was discovered thanks to the EU testing system in place in France.
"The testing programme has shown us that there is a very low incidence rate of TSEs (transmissible spongiform encephalopathies) in goats and allowed us to detect suspect animals so that they can be taken out of the food chain, as was done with this goat and its entire herd."
UK expert opinion
BSE had not previously been found under natural circumstances in ruminants other than cattle - although its presence in goats or other ruminants had been viewed as theoretically possible.
Although some incidences of TSEs in animals such as cats and antelopes have looked very similar to the BSE strain, there is some debate over whether these really were mad cow.
In 2001, a study in the UK was thought to have found BSE in sheep. It later transpired, however, that the scientists working on the research study were mistakenly looking at samples obtained from cow brains.
The EC now wants to test 200,000 goats in the 25 EU member states over the next six months.
The testing would concentrate on countries where cases of BSE have been reported in cattle in the past, including the UK.
Current testing has already shown there is a low incidence of scrapie in goats. In the UK, for example, only two cases have been confirmed since 1997. In France, which has a far bigger goat population, just 19 positives were recorded among 21,000 animals tested in 2003.
Across the EU bloc as a whole, there are believed to be more than 11.5 million goats.
The European Commission's Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health will meet to discuss the case of the French goat and its implications next week.
The French agriculture ministry said the goat came from the Ardeche region, in southeast France. It was kept in a flock of 300 animals which were all slaughtered and their carcasses destroyed.
When French research was unable to distinguish the TSE found in the goat from the BSE strain, samples were sent to the Community Reference Laboratory (CRL) for TSEs in Weybridge, UK, for its expert opinion. It confirmed the presence of the BSE strain.
Re: Mad cow' disease found in goat
Not really surprising. BSE is thought to have developed from scrapie.
TSE's are a very different disease from any other infectious diseases. The disease is caused by a misfolded variant of a normal protein. There is no nucleic acid at all as would be found in a virus. Also, viruses have numerous proteins in their "shell." Due to the misfolding, the cell's normal enzymes cannot break down the protein, and it accumulates within the cell, eventually leading to cell death. It is thought that the misfolded protein acts as a seed crystal causing the normal protein produced by the cell to become misfolded. All of the TSEs are variations on the same protein.
As far as the implications for human health, the whole thing has been blown far out of proportion by the press. Certainly, preventative measures need to be taken to prevent the spread of the disease in the animal population and to keep it out of the human population. However, the incidence of disease even in the UK, where the vast majority of BSE cases have been identified, is extremely low. Part of the reason is that the protein is only found in nerve cells. Meat should not contain any neural tissue. Don't eat cow or goat brains.
Re: Mad cow' disease found in goat
Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Heeler
As far as the implications for human health, the whole thing has been blown far out of proportion by the press.
You're telling me! Try importing an labile expensive enzyme with BSA in the buffer. The darn thing sat in customs forever. I kept begging them to add more dry ice!
I mean it's bovine serum albumen that I can buy by the kg for pennies. They see bovine and you're done.
Re: Mad cow' disease found in goat
Quote:
Originally Posted by TeamCasey
You're telling me! Try importing an labile expensive enzyme with BSA in the buffer. The darn thing sat in customs forever. I kept begging them to add more dry ice!
I mean it's bovine serum albumen that I can buy by the kg for pennies. They see bovine and you're done.
TC, stop talking dirty! You'll embarass Krono!
Re: Mad cow' disease found in goat
Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Heeler
Don't eat cow or goat brains.
that goes for squirrel too! no matter how tasty they are scrambled.
Re: Mad cow' disease found in goat
Re: Mad cow' disease found in goat
Re: Mad cow' disease found in goat
It looks like that John Titor cat's the real deal.
It's starting...Be afraid, be very afraid.
Re: Mad cow' disease found in goat
Quote:
Originally Posted by wheels
It looks like that John Titor cat's the real deal.
It's starting...Be afraid, be very afraid.
How does a goat getting a disease of cattle that started in sheep do anything to validate John Titor?
Re: Mad cow' disease found in goat
I'm joking, but John Titor or whoever he is said that he didn't eat meat because of a Mad Cow Disease problem in his worldline or something.
I was joking.
Re: Mad cow' disease found in goat
Quote:
Originally Posted by wheels
I'm joking, but John Titor or whoever he is said that he didn't eat meat because of a Mad Cow Disease problem in his worldline or something.
I was joking.
Yeah, I knew what the Titor reference was about. I whiffed on the sarcasm, though. My bad.
Re: Mad cow' disease found in goat
Don't let it happen again.
*See...I was joking that time too!*
