mad cows, mad people

Mad Cow fears sweep across the US. As reported by the New York Times, a timeline:

Dec 9 - "Downer Cow" with the disease in Washington state is taken from the herd and slaughtered. A "downer cow" is one that is one that can't walk or has another serious disability, an indicative symptom of Mad Cow disease. The slaughtered cow is on its way to processing plants and will eventually make its way into the food supply.

Dec 11 - USDA lab in Ames, Iowa receives a neurological sample from the diseased cow.

Dec 16 (or 17) - Lab sample prepared for analysis

Dec 22 - Immunohistochemistry ("Gold Standard") test for mad cow disease shows that the sample was positive

Dec 23 - USDA issues a "voluntary recall" for 10,410 lbs. of raw beef "that may have been exposed to tissues containing the infectious agents." The raw beef consists of the carcass of the diseased cow and 19 others that were slaughtered & processed at the same time.

Dec 23 - 2/3rds of the export market for US beef dries up; Japan, Hong Kong, Mexico, and many other countries ban the import of US beef. Fears of a contaminated beef supply sweep across the US as agriculture officials desparately try to assure the public that there is a low risk of humans contracting the disease from eating beef. Scientists come out and say that our testing procedures for mad cow disease are woefully inadequate. Beef futures drop the maximum amount (1.5 cents/lb.) on the Chicago mercantile exchange and are expected to continue to plummet after Christmas day; McDonalds stock falls 5.2% and Tyson Foods (world's largest meat producer) stock falls 7.7%. Supermarkets, fast food chains, Costco, and restrauants posts signs up in their window assuring the public that their beef doesn't come from the "zone" where the diseased cow was found.

Ridiculous: [According to the New York Times:] In the last few years, Congress has come close to approving legislation to prohibit the slaughter for human consumption of "downer" cattle — those that cannot walk. The inability to walk can be caused by many factors, but it is one symptom of mad cow disease. The measures have been vigorously opposed by the farm lobbies and have been blocked by leaders from both parties on the House Agriculture Committee. Representative Robert W. Goodlatte, the Virginia Republican who heads the agriculture committee, argued that if it were against the law to slaughter downer cows for human consumption, animals sick with mad cow disease would never be spotted by veterinarians or food inspectors. The animals would be buried on the farms or "perhaps even put into the food chain illegitimately, because the farmer has absolutely no incentive to do anything otherwise," Mr. Goodlatte said.

Editorial [Mine]: Shows you how much in bed Congress is with the cattle industry. Eric Schlosser was dead on when he said that eating in the US is a form of high-risk behavior. "There is--literally--shit in your meat," he writes. Not to mention brain deterioating prions from diseased cows that will cause you to go crazy and die too.