D#12 HW#8 Rough Draft WP#3

Is It A Problem?
“All interest in disease and death is only another expression of interest in life.“
Thomas Mann
Today Americans face many worries, whether it is worrying about a lost job and a mortgage, to having too many bills. We don’t have the time to worry about what we are eating. That is why, for so many years, people have been getting sick form their food, the most common being food poisoning. But what if there was something in you food that there is no medication for, and that once symptoms start to show you are diagnosed dead. Well the bad news is that there is such a thing. It is called Bovine spongiform encephalopathy(BSE). Because this deadly disease dosnt have any cases reported in humans in America, many people would agree that the government is doing a good job of protecting its people. However, others believe there are still not enough laws in place because the possibility of getting BSE still exists. Neither can be proven write or wrong, but the evidence suggests that our government is doing a lot to protect us.
What exactly is Bovine spongiform encephalopathy? “Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a disease condition in cattle between two and eight years old and is always fatal.” Howitworks.com, a well known science website, describes why this disease is so fatal. “Once the infectious agent enters the brain, it can lie dormant for several years (even as long as 10 to 15 years). When activated, the agent kills brain cells, leaving large areas of spongy holes. Also, large clumps of abnormal prion proteins (plaques) are found in brain cells. Once the agent is activated, the disease runs its course in less than one year, and ultimately results in death.” (Freudenrich, Ph.D., Craig). The site also states that the cows become infected by contact with brain or other nervous-system tissue from an infected individual (mostly through ingestion, as seen in later paragraphs). The cause of BSE is unknown but what is known is that BSE is smaller than a virus, it can’t be killed by cooking freezing, or chemically and even disinfectants are powerless against this agent (Freudenrich, Ph.D., Craig. Howstuffworks.com). As can be seen, this agent, if ingested is fatal.
This agent, however, was not always a problem. In fact it is a newer disease. Maxime Schwartz, the author of "How The Cows Turned Mad,” did her research on the subject for the prestigious University of California. After her extensive research, (she even lists her creditable resources in the back of her book) she found that the origin of mad cow was in Europe in the 1730 and actually started with sheep and was call Distemper (p. 5). Reported cases of BSE in cows however, didn’t start until 1985, but weren’t diagnosed until two years later (p 142). First lesions were noticed all over the cows body, the cows lost nerve control and either death or slaughter occurred soon after (p. 143). These cases began popping up all over Europe. The possibility that BSE could spread to humans was considered soon after (p.153). Scientists found that it was possible thus the ban of using infectious organs such as brain, stomach, and nervous tissue since there was no way to identify animals incubating the disease (these animals showed no symptoms) from those that were healthy (p.154). Today, there are still inefficient tests that confirm the presence of BSE in healthy individuals and there have been over 185,000 confirmed cases since 1986, with less than 100 cases being reported per week (Lardy, Ph.D, Greg, Charlie Stoltenow, DVM, and Julie Garden-Robinson, Ph.D.). Even though these numbers are down from what they used to be, there are still cases being reported.
Because this disease is being reported in such high numbers, one might wonder what is the government doing to protect the people. For one, the US government has “has prohibited importation of ruminants and most ruminant products from countries affected by BSE.” In 1997, the FDA “implemented a ruminant-to-ruminant feeding ban for meat and bone meal as a precautionary measure,” after a case of BES was reported in the state Washington. Also that year, importation of live ruminants and most ruminant products were banned from other European countries. Likewise, since May 1990, the United States implemented a surveillance program that is based on sampling brains of cattle with suspicious neurologic symptoms. In March of 2009, Tom Lutey wrote an article for the Tribune Business News stating that the government was trying to push new beef laws that would require testing on all cattle, as well as a law that would make it tougher for sick cows to become someone’s dinner (Tribune Business News).
Even with all of these measures being put in place, many still believe it is not enough. One such person is editorialist Thomas Ropp. He believes that diet pills could contain mad cow. Even though the idea sounds farfetched, he could be on to something. “The FDA has determined that some dietary supplements contain bovine pituitary extract. Translation: freeze-dried cow brain. This could be trouble if the parts used for this ingredient were to come from cows infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the proper name for mad cow disease” (HEALTH PILLS COULD CARRY 'MAD COW'). However, it is unlikely that this additive is in all diet pills, it is an additive that has to be labeled as cow brain or the like. The people that take these pills believe that “ingesting cow brain improves your wits” (Thomas Ropp).
Another big issue is that animal feed could be contaminated. To cut cost, some large companies feed meat to their cows and other food animals in order for them to grow more quickly. However, respectable farmers only feed their cows pre-mixed food (pellets made from organic material) from a feed lot (BSE Information). According to the FDA, it is illegal to feed ruminant animals meat or any other substance containing animal byproducts. To make sure this and other food laws are being followed, the FDA conducts ruminant feed inspections. “The FDA's December 1998 enforcement plan for the ruminant feed rule includes education as well as inspections. Firms that are found to be in violation of any of the provisions of the regulation are re-inspected to determine if they have corrected the violations. Many of the firms have committed to implementing the regulation, so there are higher levels of compliance at the time of the follow-up inspection.” (BSE Information). If the firm doesn’t straighten up by the second time they are completely shut down (BSE Information). Although some people have objections, the government is doing a good job in protect its people.
However, the question becomes: Is beef safe? According to the FDA, beef is completely safe because of all the laws and inspections they have put in place ( BSE Information). Let us take a look at the evidence, though:
1. There has only been one possible case of Mad Cow in humans in America. This person, however, used to live in the UK where 99% of the cases have occurred (Lardy, Ph.D, Greg, Charlie Stoltenow, DVM, and Julie Garden-Robinson, Ph.D.).
2. There have only been a few cases of BSE in cows in the United States, thoses of which were reported and contained right away (Lardy, Ph.D, Greg, Charlie Stoltenow, DVM, and Julie Garden-Robinson, Ph.D.).
3. The FDA has put in place many laws and inspections to make sure beef is safe (BSE Information) and is adding new ones everyday (Tom Lutey).
4. The US does not accept imported beef (BSE Information)
5. There could be cow brain parts in some diet pills, but the risk of contracting the disease from these is extremely low (Thomas Ropp).
6. Each year, the number of reported cases of BSE becomes less (Lardy, Ph.D, Greg, Charlie Stoltenow, DVM, and Julie Garden-Robinson, Ph.D.).
It is only fair to let one make one’s own judgment at this point. It is my opinion that beef is safe for Americans to keep on eating.
Ultimately, It has been questioned whether our government is doing enough to protect the American public from the deadly beef disease. Since it is a newer disease, only Known since the early 1980’s, there isn’t a cure or a known cause yet. But because there haven’t been any confirmed cases of BSE in humans and very few in cattle, the government is doing its job quite well. There is a miniscule risk of catching BSE from eating beef and other animal byproducts, with the highest risk in ground meats like hamburger and sausage. If Americans want to lessen this risk, Americans can further reduce their risk of contracting the disease by choosing whole muscle cuts of beef like roasts and steak (Lardy, Ph.D, Greg, Charlie Stoltenow, DVM, and Julie Garden-Robinson, Ph.D.). Americans can reduce the risk even still by avoiding beef and other meat byproducts all together. But as the writer, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. puts it, ““Being American is to eat a lot of beef steak, and boy, we've got a lot more beef steak than any other country, and that's why you ought to be glad you're an American” (Thinkexist.com).