Personal Injury Law

Mad Cow found in Italy

Posted on July 22, 2010
Italy has reported its second-ever case of madcow disease, the brain-wasting condition linked to eating contaminated beef. A 42-year-old woman is currently in a coma in Livorno, western Tuscany. The only previous case was registered in 2002 on the island of Sicily...

Cow Eyes tell about Mad Cow

Posted on June 10, 2010
Cattlenetworks reports that Sify.com reports scientists are working on a way to detect mad cow disease in cattle through an eye test making beef safer, culling infected cows sooner. The test allows cattle to be tested before they enter the food supply...

North American Bison Co-Op Recalls Beef Tonsils Due to BSE Risk

Posted on April 06, 2010
North American Bison Co-Op, a New Rockford, N.D., establishment is recalling approximately 25,000 pounds of whole beef heads containing tongues that may not have had the tonsils completely removed, which is not compliant with regulations that require the removal of tonsils from cattle of all ages, the U...

US to ask Japan to Lift Mad Cow Ban

Posted on March 27, 2010
Two U.S. congressmen have jointly presented a resolution calling on Japan to fully reopen its beef market to imports from the United States, Jerry Moran, one of the lawmakers said Thursday. ''It is time for Japan to fully open its markets to U.S. beef,'' said Moran, a Republican from Kansas...

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17th Mad Cow Found in Canada

Posted on March 12, 2010
The Alberta beef cow that is Canada's most recent case of mad cow disease was found dead on a farm and was destroyed without entering food or animal feed supplies, a spokesman with the Canadian government said on Thursday. Canada Beef Export Federation president Ted Haney, who first confirmed the case in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, said he did not intend to suggest that the cow was slaughtered...

Mad cow decision opponents take to Facebook

Posted on March 07, 2010
In just over a week, nearly 9000 people have joined a social networking group objecting to the Federal Government's decision to allow beef in Australia from countries affected by mad cow diseae. The Facebook site, called Support Aussie Farmers - Say No To Imported Beef, says many consumers want imported beef clearly labelled in supermarkets...

Consumer Groups Push For Ban on Chicken Feces in Cattle Feed

Posted on November 18, 2009
Consumer groups concerned about bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), sometimes referred to as "mad cow disease," are asking the FDA to ban the presence of poultry feces in cattle feed, according to the LA Times. According to the story, advocates say that the feed in question, which includes "feces, spilled chicken feed, feathers and poultry farm detritus" -- increases the risk of cows becoming infected with BSE...

"Risk of dying from mad cow disease by eating U.S. beef was less than from riding a motorcycle in Taiwan traffic"

Posted on October 30, 2009
The Legislative Yuan will be able to review the protocol signed by Taiwan and the U.S. allowing the import of bone-in beef, lawmakers said yesterday. The signing of the protocol on Oct. 23 touched off a wave of protests, with calls for a renegotiation of the agreement to exclude beef parts likely to cause bovine spongiform encephalopathy or mad cow disease...

Nebraska Firm Recalls Beef Tongues That Can Contain Prohibited Material - Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)

Posted on October 15, 2009
J.F. O'Neill Packing Company, an Omaha, Neb., establishment is recalling approximately 33,000 pounds of beef tongues that may not have had the tonsils completely removed, which is not compliant with regulations that require the removal of tonsils from cattle of all ages, the U...

Japan Suspends Beef Imports From Tyson Plant

Posted on October 14, 2009
The AP is reporting that Japan suspended beef shipments from a Tyson Plant  over its failure to remove cattle parts, specifically bovine spinal columns,  banned under a bilateral agreement.  Japanese officials are concerned about  mad cow disease...

Cow Backbone Found in Japan - Violates BSE Ban

Posted on October 10, 2009
Japan's farm ministry said Saturday that it had found a cow backbone in a shipment from the United States that violates a ban imposed due to concerns over mad cow disease. A Japanese importer on Friday informed the ministry that it had received a box containing 16 kilogrammes (35 pounds) of US beef without sanitary certification, a requirement under a trade accord between the two countries...

The Evolution of the Mad Cow

Posted on October 03, 2009
Thanks to Mark Johnson of the Journal Sentinel for blogging about "the quest to find where prions came from."  Mark wrote: Scientists in Canada and the United States claim to have found the evolutionary origin of prions, the deadly killer responsible for a family of fatal brain-wasting illnesses: chronic wasting disease in deer; scrapie in sheep; mad cow disease in cows; and human mad cow disease, kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in people...

Nodaway County, MO Health Officials Explain "Mad Cow"

Posted on September 25, 2009
The Nodaway County Health Center, in northwest Missouri, has provided some excellent information on the nature and perceived sources of "mad cow" disease in humans, as reported in Nodaway News Leader. Apparently, there is public concern over an unconfirmed report of a local death attributable to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, CJD...

Japanese Beef Import Ban Over Mad Cow Unlikely to Ease

Posted on September 17, 2009
Restrictions on import of U.S. beef into Japan, in place since 2003, are unlikely to ease under the new Japanese government, according to this report from Reuters. The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) picked up the reins of government on Wednesday in a coalition with two small parties, including the Social Democrats, which oppose both easing beef import rules and opening Japan to more farm imports...

Greek Scientists Report Ability of Farmed Fish to Carry BSE

Posted on September 15, 2009
A group of Greek scientists, led by Evgenia Salta, are reporting that farmed sea bream, a commercially farmed fish, can carry and develop BSE or "mad cow" disease when fed contaminated feed. While this is not a finding of contaminated fish in the wild, the ability of such fish to develop contaminated brain tissue after exposure may be  problematic...

Ranchers Criticize USDA Mad Cow Policy

Posted on September 11, 2009
The Rapid City Journal reports that the CEO of a cattle rancher association aimed public criticisms at the USDA's "mad cow" policy.  Bill Bullard, CEO of R-CALF, made his remarks at the annual Stockgrowers Association meeting in Rapid City...

In the UK, Calls for Testing of Blood Supplies After Donor Dies of vCJD

Posted on September 05, 2009
It remains to be seen if variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), often referred to as "mad cow disease," will become as much of a problem here in the U.S. that it is in the U.K.   The reach of the threat posed by vCJD however is illustrated by this story about possible contamination of public blood supply...

Expert Calling for British Coroners to Test for Mad-Cow

Posted on August 20, 2009
A British professor, and expert on "mad cow" disease, is calling on coroners to test  for the presence of indicators of mad-cow disease in the deceased, according to a upi.com story.  Professor John Collinge is a member of a government panel monitoring the progress of spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease...

Sporadic CJD Claims Two Of Ashland's Best Known Muscians

Posted on August 14, 2009
Within a span of seven weeks, two popular Ashland, OR musicians have died of apparent sporadic Creuzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD). Dead are Dave Marston, 56, and Robin Lawson, 70. The two music industry veterans made their homes and livings in the artistic Oregon city best known for its annual Shakespeare Festival, but apparently did not work together...

Study Suggests Chronic Wasting Disease Does NOT Jump the Species Barrier

Posted on August 04, 2009
Science Daily is reporting on results of study that suggests that people who consume deer and elk with chronic wasting disease (CWD) may be escaping infection by an inability of the infectious agent to spread to people. Data from an ongoing multi-year study suggest that people who consume deer and elk with chronic wasting disease (CWD) may be protected from infection by an inability of the CWD infectious agent to spread to people...

Is University of Wisconsin Treating A "Mad Cow" Victim? Tune in Tomorrow!

Posted on July 23, 2009
There will be a press conference at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics on Friday to calm fears about a possible case of Mad Cow Disease. UW Hospitals spokesperson Lisa Brunette says: "There is no patient with "Mad Cow" disease here...

R-CALF Wants USDA To Drop Animal ID System In Favor Of Disease Strategy

Posted on July 05, 2009
We have not given much if any space to the National Animal Identification System (NAIS).  We know the United States Department of Agriculture has been listening; that most farmers and ranchers have been protesting, and the public is mostly confused about what's up...

Eating Farmed Fish Could Transmit Infectious Prions From Cows With BSE To Humans

Posted on June 26, 2009
OK, everyone from your mother to your cardiologist says you should be eating more fish. The American Heart Association recommends eating at least two servings of fish per week. But if you do not live on the coast or some faraway island, getting fresh fish that only a short time earlier was swimming freely sea is not easy...

American Beef Getting Closer To Getting Back On Taiwan Menus

Posted on June 23, 2009
Surely the most costly cow ever to trod upon American soil was the one found in Washington State six years ago. The discovery that it had Mad Cow disease led to U.S. beef being banned around the world, costing billions upon billions of dollars. One-by-one, country-by-country, American Beef has fought its way back...

Portland Nutrition Examiner Gets Its Wrong--Mad Cow Disease Is Rare; Does Not Happen "Often"

Posted on June 10, 2009
We do not wish to pick on anyone. Over the transom this morning came the work of the 'Portland Nutrition Examiner,' Kendall Scott.  Writing under a headline---Do you know where your meat and animal products come from?—she wrote: 'According to former cattle rancher, Howard Lyman, many cattle, animals that were never meant to eat meat, end up being fed their own kind, and this often results in Mad Cow Disease...

UK May Have Mad Cow Disease Death of 22-Year Old Man

Posted on May 20, 2009
The family of the United Kingdom's Andrew 'Rew' Hawker are confident that when test results are in, they will show he died from variant CJD---linked to eating BSE infected meat. Hawker died at at King's Mill Hospital on 7th May after being struck down by pneumonia while he fought the degenerative neurological disorder...

Canada Finds 16th Animal Suffering With Mad Cow Disease Since 2003

Posted on May 15, 2009
Canada must have a blank press release for announcing when another cow is discovered with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or Mad Cow disease. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says a six-year-old dairy cow in the western province of Alberta has been confirmed as Canada's 16th case of mad cow disease since 2003...

Kentucky County Steps Up To Pay Unfunded Mandate From Federal Government's New BSE Rule

Posted on May 14, 2009
 As we say out West, "This isn't our first rodeo."  So when it comes to regulations we are always interested in what happens in the actual implementation of new rules and whether or not there are any unintended consequences. That is why we are watching for impacts of the the new so-called "BSE" rule requiring livestock renderers and animal feed manufacturers to remove the brain and spinal cord from cows 30 months and older...

Alberta Prion Research Institute Good On "The Basics"

Posted on May 06, 2009
A couple of items on the Alberta Prion Research Institute's website recently caught our attention. First, we found its "Prion Basics" a great feature, especially the listing of the various prion diseases and the mammals they affect. (See below)...

Remember When Mad Cow Disease Was Going To Kill 500,000 In Britain Alone?

Posted on May 04, 2009
 Leave it to the Wall Street Journal's Bret Stephens to remind us of "the "mad cow" panic that gripped the world in the 1990s. In his 1997 book "Deadly Feasts," Richard Rhodes warned that the human variant of mad cow, known as vCJD, might kill as many as 500,000 people a year in Britain alone...

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