Mad
Cow Disease
Mad
Cow Disease:
Cutting the risk to our companions
By
Shawn Messonnier, DVM
Up until a year ago, Mad Cow Disease (MCD)
was considered “foreign” to
North America. We watched in dismay as
Europe struggled with the implications
of this disease. With the discovery of
an infected cow in Canada last May, however,
and the more recent report of one in the
U.S., this is no longer someone else’s
problem.
Many people have expressed concern about
their animal companions contracting MCD.
Is this possible? Should you be concerned
about the health of your dog or cat as
well as your own?
I’m not really surprised that MCD
(also called bovine spongioform encephalopathy
or BSE) has made an appearance here. The
food supply is “generally safe,”
since meat intended for human consumption
must pass inspection by food health veterinarians
who check the meat at the point of slaughter.
Even though the infected cows came from
Canada, a U.S. cow could just as well
have been the culprit, as detection systems
for the disease are not as good as they
should be, according to some experts.
Due to the worldwide distribution of this
horrible condition, it was only a matter
of time, regardless of the controls we
have on food inspection, that MCD would
be detected.
Mad Cow Disease is not caused by bacteria
or viruses but by protein particles called
prions. These prions, which start out
as normal components of neurological tissue,
are very resistant to destruction, and
survive anything and everything, including
freezing, heating, pressure, and irradiation.
They concentrate in the nervous tissue
(brain and spinal cord) of infected animals.
Scientists believe the disease originated
from the agricultural practice of feeding
meat to ruminants (cows, sheep, etc.),
which normally would never be carnivores
in the wild. Many countries have now banned
this practice, although it is up to local
farmers to follow and enforce the ban.
It seems there are two forms of MCD in
people. The first and most well known
is the condition called Creutzfeldt- Jakob
Disease (CJD), usually seen in older people.
It may be confused with Alzheimer’s
disease and progresses very slowly. A
new variant form of CJD affects younger
people (usually) and is more rapidly progressive.
In the U.K., this second form has been
linked to eating beef stricken with MCD.
Unfortunately, there is no effective treatment,
either conventional or alternative. Death
occurs over time Cutting the risk to our
companions as “holes” develop
in the brain, giving it a spongy appearance
(hence the medical term, spongiopathy.)
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Published
in the April/May 2004 issue of Animal
Wellness
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