With science like this you would be better off playing russian roulette with a 357 revolver. the first two stories seem to contradict each other, the third story is scary because it seems a new animal species (goats) that is consumed by humans is now infected with BSE. SO when the USDA says their policy is based on "sound science" try not to laugh too loud
Below are articles published at the website,Meatingplace.com , link at bottom of this tread.
NEWS STORY # 1
BSE may be more dangerous than thought: Swiss study
by Pete Hisey on 1/24/05 for Meatingplace.com
A new study conducted by medical researchers in Switzerland indicates that the list of specified risk materials (SRMs) that makes up the firewall against human infection from bovine spongiform encephalopathy may be far from complete.
The study, released by the Institute of Neuropathology at Zurich's University Hospital, found that, at least in mice, prions  malformed proteins that cause the disease  are found in organs until now thought to be safe from infection. Scientists in Zurich, London and at Yale University injected mice who were suffering from inflammation of random organs, including the liver, kidneys and pancreas, to see if the prions would migrate to those organs. In every case, they did.
NEWS STORY # 2
A study published in the online version of the British medical journal Lancet finds that while bovine spongiform encephalopathy can be transferred to humans in the form of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, it takes massive consumption of specified risk materials like brains and other parts associated with the central nervous system to produce an infection. The study, Risk of oral infection with bovine spongiform encephalopathy agent in primates, found that human infectivity from consuming diseased cattle products is seven to 20 times lower than the infectivity rate for cattle consuming the same products. Additionally, it estimated that a human would have to eat some 3.3 pounds of infected neural tissue to be at risk of developing the disease. The study concluded that "existing public health measures can prevent transmission of BSE to man."
"Early in the BSE epidemic in the United Kingdom, before scientists fully understood BSE or its transmission, Britons routinely and unknowingly consumed infected parts from cattle, like brains," said James H. Hodges, president of the American Meat Institute Federation. "Yet less than 150 human cases of vCJD have occurred in the UK." Since these riskiest parts of cattle are forbidden in the human food supply, he said, infection is highly unlikely. "BSE firewalls in place in the United States will continue to protect the public health," Hodges said.
NEWS STORY # 3
Suspected BSE infection in goat confirmed
by Pete Hisey on 1/31/05 for Meatingplace.com
A two-year old French goat, slaughtered in 2002, has been confirmed to have contracted bovine spongiform encephalopathy, not the similar scrapie which was first reported. A panel of European Union scientists released the report on Friday, and EU officials said they plan to increase testing of the Union's 11.6 million goat herd for at least six months.
EFSA, the EU's food safety agency, said it was too early to tell if goat meat is safe to eat, and would be conducting tests to determine that. "Important information gaps do not allow at this stage the quantification of BSE-related risk with regard to the consumption of goat meat," EFSA said.
This marks the first time a case of BSE has been confirmed in an animal other than cattle.
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