Local cattleman has a ‘beef’ with USDA

[NCLiz 3]

Local cattleman has a ‘beef’ with USDA February 10, 2014 by Howard W. Appell

When West Sparta beef farmer Charles Comer learned about the United States Department of Agriculture’s plans to sanction importation of beef from Brazil, he foresaw an economic threat to his own operation and a health threat to the American population at large. “The concern here is about importing cattle that may contaminate our cattle here in the United States,” Comer said. “I think everyone should be concerned, not just us growers but housewives and anyone who eats beef.” There is a known, historical presence of foot-and-mouth-disease in Brazil, Comer said. The usually fatal condition is one of the most contagious to exist among animals with cloven hoofs. Comer cautions that FMD, once established in the cattle population, would likely spread to hogs, sheep, goats and even wild deer. The only way of controlling FMD is to destroy whole herds in which the disease has appeared, he said. In addition to FMD, Comer suspects that Brazil is infected with unreported Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, commonly known as mad cow disease, whose infectious agent is associated with meat products fed to cattle. - See more at: http://thelcn.com/2014/02/10/local-catt ... OTbOy.dpuf

 

[mwj]

How do you propose we would get BSE from imported beef?

 

[NCLiz 3]

Mwj,
I had to look that one up myself.
Liz

A human version of mad cow disease called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) is believed to be caused by eating beef products contaminated with central nervous system tissue, such as brain and spinal cord, from cattle infected with mad cow disease.

http://www.webmd.com/brain/mad-cow-disease-basics

 

[mwj]

Go to the epicenter of the outbreak of BSE (England) and see how much concern they have. It was a problem that was blown out of proportion and its biggest use in this country was as a trade barrier with Canada.

 

[NCLiz 3]

'Mad cow' reported in Germany
January 21, 2014 10:39 am

German officials have identified one beef cow with a case of bovine spongiform encephalitis, the fatal neurological disorder also known as “mad cow disease.”
This is Germany’s first reported case since 2009. The cow was killed and its body destroyed, with none of the meat entering the human food chain.
Snip
Another 19 BSE cases have occurred in Canada.

http://journalstar.com/business/agricul ... e30c6.html

Brazil kept mad cow case secret
December 10, 2012 9:19 am

Brazil, the world’s biggest beef exporting country, kept a case of mad cow disease a secret for the past two years. Read more

http://journalstar.com/business/agricul ... c648a.html

 

[dun]

Is importing beef any worse then moving the plum island facility to kansas?

 

[NCLiz 3]

Is importing beef any worse then moving the plum island facility to Kansas?

:lol2: :lol2: Good one! They moved it there to get away from all the deer ticks.
Liz