quick as a whip

Last week it was announced that a 10 yr old dairy cow in California was diagnosed with BSE.  Due to the high surveillance system cattle producers currently practice here in the US, the animal did not enter the food chain, thus eliminating the chance of developing illness in humans.  However, due to the reaction from media attention, some consumers both domestic and international, had some concerns in regards to the safety of the product.  These concerns are mainly a result of mis-information or consumers that are uneducated about BSE.


BSE, defined as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (yes I know it is a mouth full), also known as the derogatory "mad cow disease", is a degenerative neurological disease in cattle that is caused by misfolded proteins (called prions) that build up in the central nervous system (CNS) in cattle and eventually kill nerve cells.  Because BSE is a degenerative disease it causes the animal to lose control of normal locomotion, thus causing the animal to move in an un-coordinated fashion and makes the animal look "mad".  BSE is in a class of TSE (Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies) and could be compared to Scrapies in sheep, Chronic Wasting disease in deer, and Kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.  


These diseases are ONLY transmitted when CNS tissue from an infected animal is consumed.  By consuming the nervous tissue, the prions present cause proteins in a healthy animal to become misfolded and distorted.  Once this mode of transmission was discovered, the feeding of animal proteins to livestock was banned in the US in 1997.  Because of this ruling, the USDA has claimed this an atypical case of BSE and assumed the prion naturally developed in the animal; likely a result of genetic mutations.

Because of the ability for the prions to be transmit among species by consumption, humans are also able to develop degenerative symptoms.  This is the main reason why consumers become leery during a BSE diagnosis.  In humans variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease can be a result of consuming beef contaminated with BSE, but is more likely due to corneal transplants, other tissues, or blood transfusions from infected donors.  Since 2006 there have been 3 vCJD cases in the US and none of those cases have been linked to the consumption of beef contaminated with BSE. 

Those things considered, this past week the USDA as well as the US beef industry have assured consumers that US beef remains safe because: 


1.  The animal did NOT enter the food chain
2.  TSE's are ONLY transmissible through the consumption of nervous tissue, not meat or milk
3.  The animal did NOT enter the food chain
4.  In US packing plants all CNS tissue is removed from beef carcasses immediately after slaughter and sorted into in-edible product
5.  The animal did NOT enter the food chain


I have to commend the USDA and the beef industry for handling this situation with poise.  I received an email notification of the BSE diagnosis announcement at 1:00 last Thursday afternoon.  When I checked my Twitter feed at 1:45, "mad cow" was already trending, and to my surprise it was all positive, educational comments from credible sources.  


In agriculture we may be slow to change, but we learn from our mistakes.  From the "pink slime" controversy we have become aware of the importance of social media and educating our consumers, and we have turned that into positive progress for our industry!