Personal Injury Law

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...

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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...

South Korea Putting Its TV People In Jail; Wishing It Were So In USA?!!

Posted on April 28, 2009
 If distortion and intentionally exaggerating were crimes if carried out on television in the United States, it is a pretty good bet that we'd have to lock up the likes of Glenn Beck and Chris Matthews and all the ladies on The View would have to be locked up too...

FDA Delays Implementing New BSE Rule

Posted on April 14, 2009
 You've got a couple more days to submit written comments to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on 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...

Roane County Deaths Blame On Classic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)

Posted on March 24, 2009
After reporting four cases of classic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) last year, Tennessee health officials are saying the death of a Kingston woman in February and a Rockwood man earlier this month are also due to prion diseases.  We'd noted in our previous posting that one death and a critical  illness then --both in Roane County, Tennessee-- had generated some interesting local comments...

Is There A CJD Cluster In Roane County, Tennessee?

Posted on March 16, 2009
These days, it's often the comments to the news, that makes the most interesting reading. For example take the public feedback that a story on the WBIR-TV website in Knoxville, TN. The story about one death caused by Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in nearby Roane County, TN brings in 2 responses from individuals who say CJD was the cause of death for each of  their grandmothers in Roane, TN; one who says his father, a Roane resident, was just diagnosed with the disease, and another reader who says he's heard of several other CJD deaths in the county...

Alzheimer's And Mad Cow/CJD Link Discovered By Yale

Posted on March 01, 2009

Sinn Fein Leader Gerry Adams Support Mother's Campaign For Answers About Mad Cow Disease

Posted on February 24, 2009
Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, has often made life difficult for the government in London. He is doing so again by supporting Christine Lord, the mother seeking answers from the government about her son Andy's death from Variant Creutzfeldt Jakob (vCJD)...

Cattle States Get Ready To Deal With New Mad Cow Regulation

Posted on February 16, 2009
Beef may be what's for dinner, but cattlemen say the economics of their business just don't pencil out anymore. They say that's why the cattle population in the U.S. has dipped to 42 million, and the number of new calves has not been so low since 1951...

Another Mad Cow & A Possible Blood Test From Canada

Posted on February 01, 2009
 Canada continues to make Mad Cow news. The 15th case of Mad Cow disease was discovered in Canada, in the form of a seven year old dairy cow that was determined be suffering from bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Canadian agricultural and health officials were quick to point out that no part of the ill cow entered the human food or animal feed systems...

Industry Will Remember Veneman's Role In Dealing With Mad Cow

Posted on January 20, 2009
 "We had three Secretaries of Agriculture during the Bush administration. [Anne] Veneman will likely be remembered for her response to bovine spongiform encephalopathy, which was then and is still incredibly damaging to the industry despite the fact that the enhanced testing protocol she initiated eventually exonerated the U...

Mother Of vCJD Victim Says There's Been A Mad Cow Cover-Up In UK

Posted on January 12, 2009
The United Kingdom's chief adviser on vCJD, the human form of Mad Cow disease, believes it is possible that the UK will experience a second wave of death from the brain-reducing prions in the years ahead.  An estimated 50 to 350 additional vCJD deaths are predicted...

No Mad Cow Disease In Iowa, Says Widow Of Brain Disease Victim

Posted on January 05, 2009
 The Charles City, Iowa man who died on New Year's Eve will go down as a victim of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; and NOT  the variant form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, linked to eating beef infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow disease...

Asian Countries With Mad Cow Concerns Favor Younger Cattle

Posted on December 12, 2008
Quick!  Name the Asian country that says Smithfield Beef plant in Wisconsin is not turning out meat that is fit for export to their nation?   South Korea?  Wrong! Sure those South Koreans made it difficult.   They damn near brought down their government over a Mad Cow scare that was way over the top...

More Mad Cow Cases Predicted For the UK

Posted on December 08, 2008
 Scientists in the United Kingdom say there could be a "second wave" of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease -- the human form of the mad cow disease -- after discovering that some people have a genetic predisposition to the disease. The scientists say a person's individual DNA could affect the length of time that the disease can remain in the body before symptoms develop...

Atypical Prion Strain of Mad Cow More Virulent, Says Dr. Qingzhong Kong

Posted on December 04, 2008
When the subject is Mad Cow disease, you do not want to find out that it can get worse. That, however, appears to be what researcher Qingzhong Kong from Case Western University had to tell an audience at Kansas State recently. Dr. Kong said an atypical prion strain of mad cow disease, also called bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BS, is more virulent than the classical strain...

Here Is Story on Canada's Mad Cow No. 15

Posted on November 18, 2008
Whitney McFerron at Bloomberg News is following the discovery of the 15th Mad Cow in Canada since May 2003. Canada has this routine down pretty well.  It just issued  a report on the investigation into the likely cause of Mad Cow No. 13, 14 is still under investigation, and 15 was found on a farm in British Columbia...

Study Finds French Covered Up Their Mad Cow Problem In Early 1990s

Posted on November 07, 2008
Why did nine French citizens die from variant Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human form of Mad Cow Disease or BSE, between 1996 and 2006?   Mad Cow Disease or BSE was discovered in England in 1986, resulting in the slaughter of  herds by the millions and bans on British beef exports that lasted for years...

U.S. Meat Export Federation Also Wants Less BSE Testing, Especially By Japan

Posted on October 19, 2008
Everyone, at one time or another, has used "white noise" as a sleep aid.   National Public Radio (NPR) tries to keep it a secret, but its over-night broadcasts are highly effective "white noise" for many people. The inclusion of the BBC reports are very useful to those seeking shut-eye...

Europe Sees No Need For Testing Brains Of Younger Cattle

Posted on October 15, 2008
Less testing of cattle brains for BSE is being recommended today to the Board of the Food Standards Agency of the European Commission.   Under current regulations, the brains of all cattle aged over 30 months are tested for BSE before the beef is allowed into the food chain...

BSE Costing U.S. Beef Exporters Billions of Dollars

Posted on October 08, 2008
The 2003 discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a dairy cow of Canadian origin in a Washington State cattle herd cost U.S. beef exporters $11 billion between 2004 and 2007, a new report says. Because many countries restricted imports of U...

Italy Finds Mad Cow No. 142; First in Two Years

Posted on September 30, 2008
  The first case of Mad Cow disease in Italy in two years has been uncovered at a research laboratory in the northern city of Turin, it was reported on Sept...

Spain Reports Mother-Son Mad Cow Deaths

Posted on September 24, 2008
Spain is reporting on the first mother-son deaths due to the human form of Mad Cow disease, reports CNN's Madrid Bureau.  From that report: The mother of a Spanish man who died from the human form of mad cow disease has also died from the illness, Spain's Ministry of Health said Wednesday...

Genetic link to mad cow found at Kansas State University

Posted on September 15, 2008
We are adding Rick Plumlee at The Wichita Eagle to our list to our list to check out on the weekends.  For some reason, some of the best stories relating to food safety and agriculture are held for weekend publication.  This one ran Saturday...

Did USDA Act Only to Silence Creekstone?

Posted on September 04, 2008
Case Western Law Professor Jonathan Adler writes on the widely read blog called The Volokh Conspiracy.  He's set off an interesting discussion over there with a column titled: WAS CREEKSTONE REALLY ABOUT SPEECH?  Professor Adler raises the question of whether "the USDA was less concerned about the testing than it was about what Creekstone might say about it...

USDA Wins Right To Withhold Mad Cow Test Kits

Posted on September 02, 2008
When is a test a treatment?   Whenever two of three federal judges say so.  That at least would seem to be the answer coming out of Creekstone Farms lengthy attempt to get the U.S. Department of Agriculture to allow it to test all of its animals for Mad Cow disease...

Mexico Closes Its Border To Canada's Cattle

Posted on August 22, 2008
Today's Star Phoenix reports this: Mexico will ban cattle from Alberta from crossing its border until officials find out more about what Canada is doing to prevent mad cow disease, a Canadian industry official said Thursday. The move comes after Canada found its 14th case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, in a six-year-old cow last week in Alberta, the largest cattle-producing province...

Canada Reports 14th Case of Mad Cow Disease

Posted on August 16, 2008
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has confirmed bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a six-year-old beef cow from Alberta. No part of the animal’s carcass entered the human food or animal feed systems. It is the 14th case of BSE or Mad Cow Disease in Canada...

Mad Cow Restrictions Lead To Nordic Sperm Shortage In U.S.

Posted on August 13, 2008
About 100,000 South Koreans hit the bricks almost every night for two months because, they claimed, U.S. beef imports came with too great a risk for Mad Cow disease.   Now, however, women in the market for Nordic sperm claim that restrictions to protect Americans from the human variety of Mad Cow are going too far...

Dallas City Packing Failed To Remove Tonsils In Cowheads: FSIS Forces Recall

Posted on August 07, 2008
Just under one million pounds of cattle heads produced over the past 18 months by Dallas-based Dallas City Packing Inc. are being recalled because tonsils were not completely removed. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service, 941,271 pounds of cattle heads produced as long ago as Feb...

Canada links 12th case of mad cow to infected feed

Posted on August 03, 2008
The six-year old Alberta dairy cow found to be suffering from bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in February was the victim of infected feed, according to the official investigation. It was Canada's 12th case of mad cow disease since 2003 and infected feed has been blamed for all previous cases as well...

Elderly Cape Cod Woman Suffers From CJD: Did Texas Man Die From nvCJD?

Posted on July 26, 2008
Straight Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease usually affects older people and quickly progresses through dementia, movement disorders and ultimately death.   About 300 Americans die from CJD each year. So-called new variant (nv) Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease can affect people of all ages and can be caused by eating meat from cows who ate "slaughterhouse waste" like brains or spinal cords--cows infected with mad cow disease...

Cape Cod, Massachusetts May Have Case of Mad Cow

Posted on July 21, 2008
Boston television stations tonight are reporting that a Cape Cod hospital is testing a patient for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human form of Mad Cow disease. Dr. Alfred DeMaria, the Massachusetts director of communicable disease control, said the tests are being done to see if the patient has Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and whether it's the variant attributed to mad cow...

CJD-Like Form Of Fatal Dementia Discovered By Prion Center

Posted on July 10, 2008
We have to admit we do not see much of the New Scientist. Since this article is sourced back to The National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center (NPDPSC), we are going with it.   We'll report, but let you decide! A NEW form of fatal dementia has been discovered in 16 Americans, ten of whom have already died of the condition...

BSE Regulations Brings Recalls Of Fresh Cow Heads

Posted on July 07, 2008
In what may be a sign of the level of policing the U.S. Department of Agriclture will do to keep American beef's nose clean in South Korea, there are two small recalls of "fresh cattle heads" underway. The concern, said to be a low health risk, is the cattle heads may contain "specified risk materials" (SRM) meaning tissue known to contain the infective agent in cattle infected with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or Mad Cow Disease...

More Protests And Changes in Government As Mad Cow Circus Still In Seoul

Posted on July 07, 2008
The English web site of The Chosun says its time for the protests against importing American beef to end... People in around a hundred countries eat U.S. beef every day, including Americans and Europeans. Most people around the world consume U.S. beef from cattle aged 30 months or older, but nowhere do you see mad cow hysteria or protests...

A 13th "Mad Cow" Found In Canada's British Columbia

Posted on June 24, 2008
The Land, a publication of Farmonline, is reporting on Canada's 13th "Mad Cow" discovery. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced Monday afternoon that it has confirmed the country's 13th case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a cow in the western province of British Columbia...

President Lee Wants To Limit U.S. Beef Imports To Younger Cows

Posted on June 19, 2008
The four-month old government of President Lee Myung-bak in South Korea now wants to limit U.S. beef imports to product from animals younger than 30 months.   President Lee's latest apology-led strategy to shore up his government against the Mad Cow protest movement that has put up to 100,000 people in the streets against U...

South Korea's Mad Cow Protest Has Ignited Larger Political Effort

Posted on June 10, 2008
The “mad cow” protests mask a strong mistrust of Mr Lee and his plans to revive the economy. For the past six weeks he has faced widespread protests over plans to restart imports of American beef, suspended five years ago amid concerns over BSE...

Mad Cow Politics Again Closes Door On U.S. Beef In South Korea

Posted on June 04, 2008
As our loyal readers know, we have followed the controversy surrounding the re-entry of U.S. beef to South Korea. Forces have combined to whip Korean public opinion into a frenzy over the alleged Mad Cow disease threat poised by U.S. beef. Now the South Korean government has imposed a another delay—the third since the agreement reached in April---and asked the U...

Mad Cow Fears Continue In South Korea, But U.S. Beef Is Back

Posted on May 29, 2008
United States beef is moving in South Korea today for the first time since 2003 when  a single cow from Canada showed up in Washington State with Mad Cow disease.   The U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement cleared the way for U.S. beef to the nation that was its third largest export market...

What"s Behind Schafer's Ban On "Downer" Cows?

Posted on May 21, 2008
Something happened this year between Feb. 29 and May 20 to change Ed Schafer's mind about "downer" cows.  In a span of just 13 weeks, the Secretary of Agriculture went from holding the United States Department of Agriculture line about veterinarians-on-duty being able to clear some "downer" cows for a trip to the "knock box" to a total ban...

What Is Behind Schafer's Ban On "Downer" Cows?

Posted on May 21, 2008
Something happened this year between Feb. 29 and May 20 to change Ed Schafer's mind about "downer" cows.  In a span of just 13 weeks, the Secretary of Agriculture went from holding the United States Department of Agriculture line about veterinarians-on-duty being able to clear some "downer" cows for a trip to the "knock box" to a total ban...

No More "Downer" Cows To Slaughter, Says Ag Secretary

Posted on May 20, 2008
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Ed Schafer just issued a long statement that includes this: "...today I am announcing that USDA will begin working on a proposed rule to prohibit the slaughter of all disabled non-ambulatory cattle, also know as "downer cattle...

South Korea Is Delaying Re-Entry of U.S. Beef Due To Mad Cow Protests

Posted on May 16, 2008
South Korea’s Agriculture Ministry is delaying the resumption of beef imports from the United States to consider the many protest petitions it has received from its “Mad Cow-phobic” population. The delay isn’t going over very well in Washington, D...

Creekstone Fights For Right To Test For BSE

Posted on May 10, 2008
Creekstone Farms Premium Beef is finding out how difficult life can be when your opponent in court is the U.S. government. One thing is certain, the government is not worried about running up legal bills.Here's what we are talking about. Your government wants to stop Creekstone from using its own money to test each and every one of its Black Angus beef cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease...

Opening of South Korean Market To U.S. Beef Sparks Protests

Posted on May 09, 2008
The return of U.S. beef to the South Korean market is encountering severe turbulence.   Thousands of South Koreans have "hit the bricks" to protest the decision by its government to let U.S. beef back in the country for the first time since 2003...

New Policies Might Prevent Mad Cow In USA

Posted on April 28, 2008
The wall to keep Mad Cow Disease out of America was erected somewhat higher last week.  This week, the debate is whether that action resulted from a true concern by the soon-to-be outgoing Bush Administration about health or was it the required cave-in to get South Korea to once again import American beef...

Common Misspellings of Mad Cow - Madcow, mad cows, madcows, mad cowz, mad con

Posted on April 18, 2008

Food Industry Lobbyists Blocking Public's Right To Know

Posted on April 15, 2008
Food industry lobbyists are crawling about the Executive Office of Management & Budget to stop approval of new regulations that would give consumers the right to know which retail outlets were supplied tainted meat that’s subject to recall...

vCJD Possible Cause of Woman's Death In Virginia

Posted on April 12, 2008
The  Virginian-Pilot has reported on the death of a 22 year old woman that may be related to a variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, known as vCJD, a rare degenerative brain disorder that has been linked to consumption of contaminated beef.The V-P reports:A 22-year-old woman who may have had a rare degenerative brain disorder that has been linked to eating beef from cattle infected with mad cow disease has died...

Kansas Packing Company Calls Back Cow Heads

Posted on April 07, 2008
We could really gross you out with this one.   Elkhorn Valley Packing in Harper, KS is  voluntarily recalling 406,000 pounds of frozen cattle heads because the tonsils were not completely removed. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service requires that tonsils from cattle of all ages be removed as a specified risk material that may possibly be an infectious agent for mad cow disease...

Watchdog In Kansas City Is Wrong About Prion Diseases

Posted on April 05, 2008
We always get a little discomfort whenever someone in the media gives themselves the title of "Watchdog."Maybe its because we always think of the late Marvin Zindler, the Texas TV consumer reporter who during one ratings period decided to force the shutdown of a rural brothel...

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Killed Kansas Man Who Died In January

Posted on April 01, 2008
A suspected victim of  Mad Cow Disease has been identified and his death by Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease confirmed.Milton Eugene Rebarchek of Monument, Kansas died in January and now the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center confirms he died of C-J, which is related to Mad Cow Disease, and  turns the brain tissue spongy...

USDA Records Show Use Of "Downer Cows" NOT Rare

Posted on March 24, 2008
The largest beef recall in United States history occurred largely because of video evidence that at least a couple "downer cows" made it into the food supply.Now comes word from the Animal Welfare Institute, a 57-year old non-profit that wants to abolish so-called "factory" farming and achieve humane slaughter practices, that it has records from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) of 501 humane-handling or slaughter violations involving "downer cows...

Mendell Swears To Tell the Truth

Posted on March 13, 2008
From reading the newspapers today, you would think that Steve Mendell, who owns Westland and managed Hallmark, who were partners in the Chino slaughterhouse, was given a rough time on Capitol Hill yesterday.Mendell gave the impression that he is not a very curious man...

Mad Cow Disease Sure Gets Their Attention

Posted on March 10, 2008
Mad cow disease is an awful way to die. Contracting it is a little like coming down with Alzheimer’s, with the body and brain both deteriorating — except that it affects people of any age, not just the elderly. It is terrifying even to think about...

All About Banning "Downer" Cows From Food Supply

Posted on March 02, 2008
Edward T. Schafer, Secretary of Agriculture, this week was defending the status quo when it comes to "downer" cows.  USDA's current policy is that if a cow on the way to slaughter goes down,  there should be additional inspection by a veterinarian, who might rule the animal is healthy enough to get whacked...

The Press Enterprise Goes After "Who Done It?"

Posted on February 27, 2008
Ever since the arrest warrants were issued for Daniel Navarro of Pomona, and Luis Sanchez of Chino on multiple charges of animal cruelty at the Chino slaughterhouse, we've said these individuals were perhaps guilty, but probably not the  ultimate decision-makers...

A 12th Mad Cow Found In Canada

Posted on February 26, 2008
While we've all been focused on "downer" cows in the United States, Canada has actually found its 12th case of Mad Cow disease.   The International Herald Tribune today (2/26/08) reports that:"Canada confirmed a new case of mad cow disease on Tuesday, marking the country's 12th such case since the disease was first discovered there in 2003...

The Arizona Republic Says "Inspect the System"

Posted on February 24, 2008
Editorial writers at The Arizona Republic Sunday gave their readers a lot to think about when it comes to food safety and preventing Mad Cow disease.They said our belief that food is safe and our assumption that animals are treated humanely were both dashed by the Chino slaughterhouse scandal that led to the largest beef recall in U...

Federal Judge Asked To Close Border To Older Cattle

Posted on February 21, 2008
A federal judge in South Dakota soon will making a ruling that could again close the United States to the import of all cattle from Canada.   American cattlemen, who say they just want to keep bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) out of the USA , are trying to shutdown the program that allows cattle older than 30 months to come south of the border...

143.3 Million Pounds Of Beef Recalled From Chino

Posted on February 17, 2008
After the nation's school districts have been stuck holding their illegal meat in public freezers for more than two weeks, the Chino slaughterhouse has finally done the obvious and issued a recall.The Food Safety & Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture announced  on Sunday afternoon that 143,383,823 pounds of raw and frozen beef products from Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company of Chino, CA were being "voluntarily recalled...

Small Fish Charged in Chino Slaugherhouse Cruelty

Posted on February 15, 2008
Meet Michael A. Ramos,  San Bernardino County District Attorney.  He has just filed criminal charges in the Westland/Hallmark Meat Company's mistreatment of downer cows.We are not, at least at this point, going to see Westland/Hallmark President Steve Mendell being taken away in handcuffs...

Small Fish Charged in Chino Slaughterhouse Cruelty

Posted on February 15, 2008
Meet Michael A. Ramos,  San Bernardino County District Attorney.  He has just filed criminal charges in the Westland/Hallmark Meat Company's mistreatment of downer cows.We are not, at least at this point, going to see Westland/Hallmark President Steve Mendell being taken away in handcuffs...

Mad Cow Disease Claims Suffolk Man

Posted on February 14, 2008
Suffolk & Essex online today reports that Guy Massey, a 53-year old Suffolk businessman,  died on Jaunary 28, 2008 from the human form of mad cow's disease.  He died just ten weeks after he was told he had the rare Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and eight months before he was due to marry later this year...

Is Schafer "Swiftboating" On Chino Slaughterhouse?

Posted on February 12, 2008
The Humane Society caught the Chino, CA slaughterhouse processing "downer" cows; breaking a bunch of federal laws.   It was more than an embarrassment to the United States Department of Agriculture as not only was its Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS) at Chino not on the job; but federal food buyers were busy buying all the beef produced by the plant for the school lunch program...

USDA Shuts Down School Lunch Program's Beef Source

Posted on February 06, 2008
Schools across America were left pulling beef from their lunch menus after Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing was caught mistreating "downer" cows.  In doing their reports on the local school districts, most television stations showed some images from the Humane Society video that was taken by an undercover operative...

Chino Packing House Caught Taking Downers To Slaughter

Posted on January 30, 2008
Westland Meat Company/Hallmark Meat Packing own and operate a slaughterhouse in Chino, CA that they say has operated “under the strictest possible standards for animal welfare, occupational health and safety and food safety precautions for 10 years...

Mad Cow At Center of Tracking Debate

Posted on January 22, 2008
If cattle in the United States ever started showing up with Mad Cow disease in any significant numbers, the outcry for locating and tracking histories on the impacted animals would probably be over-whelming. After 9-11, we all recall the sharp elbows that were exchanged over who did and who did not “connect the dots...

Mad Cow All But Ruled Out

Posted on January 16, 2008
If you want to catch the world's attention,  there's probably not a better place to do it than the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.   The death last week of a Kansas man due to the rare brain disease Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease caught  the Exchange's attention...

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Kills Kansas Man

Posted on January 14, 2008
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease has taken the life of a 53-year old Colby, Kansas man.  He died Friday, Jan. 11, 2008 at  the Wesley Medical Center in Wichita where he where he had been a patient since December. .Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease is a rare disease that affects the central nervous system and turns brain tissue spongy...

Chronic Wasting Disease Spreading in Nebraska

Posted on January 04, 2008
 Nebraska game officials have found 18 deer with chronic wasting disease out of  3,310 tested.  Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a transmissible neurological disease of deer and elk that produces small lesions in brains of infected animals...

Senators Want To Keep Mad Cows Out of US

Posted on January 03, 2008
         The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)  is going with a rule-change that makes it more likely that a "mad cow" could make its way into the United States, but two powerful Western Senators are trying to block it...

CDC Funds Center for Mad Cow

Posted on December 31, 2007
The National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center at Cleveland's Case Western Reserve University is getting $27.5 million from the Centers for Disease Control--enough to continue its work for another five years.   The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Sarah Jane Tribble wrote that: "The center became a national hot spot when mad cow disease, which is the newest strain of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, hit global headlines several years ago...

Mad Cow Walks On PM's Story

Posted on December 19, 2007
Canada's new Prime Minister Stephen Harper wanted to put food safety front and center this week, but he probably did not want help from an aged Alberta cow who showed up with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).Here's how it played out.  On Monday, the PM announced the Government of Canada would be taking preventive measures in 2008 to ensure food safety...

Feeding cattle with pet food risks Mad Cow Disease

Posted on December 19, 2007
Utah's ranchers got a stern warning yesterday from the state veterinarian: feeding cattle with pet food could cause Mad Cow Disease.   Dawn House at the Salt Lake Tribune reported  that high hay costs and burned out ranges could tempt some ranchers into using pet food linked to Mad Cow...

Japan blames Dutch for 1995-6 Mad Cow Outbreaks

Posted on December 17, 2007
Phyllis Entis isn't buying the single milk substitute theory as the reason why 33 cows in Japan came down with bovine spongiform encephalopathy ten years ago. The Japanese Agricultural Ministry released an investigative report Friday (12/14/07) that blamed Dutch-produced animal fat powder that was used as a milk substitute for the outbreaks of Mad Cow Disease in Hokkaido and Kanto...

Cold Cash Follows Mad Cow

Posted on December 06, 2007
We’re coming up on the 5th anniversary of the discovery of Mad Cow disease in the United States. It came here with an unfortunate little cow from Canada that found its way to Washington State.It ended, for a long time, U.S beef exports. The cost to the U...

Japan, U.S. hold 2-day technical meeting on U.S. beef imports

Posted on June 28, 2007
TOKYO (AP) - Japan and the U.S. today (Wednesday) began a 2-day meeting on U.S. beef imports as the U.S. calls for an easing of Japan's tough import restrictions. Japan only allows imports of U.S. beef from cattle 20 months old or younger, because mad cow disease has not been detected in meat from young cattle...

Japanese supermarket giant puts US beef back on shelves

Posted on June 28, 2007
One of Japan's top supermarket chains, Ito-Yokado Co., said Thursday it would resume sales of US beef at stores in Tokyo after taking it off the shelves due to a mad cow disease scare. Ito-Yokado will start selling US beef at its 20 outlets in and around the capital from Friday following its own investigation into the safety of US beef, it said in a statement...

Japan-U.S. Beef Talks Set

Posted on June 28, 2007
Japan and the United States will begin talks this week on easing Tokyo's strict import restrictions on American beef. The Japanese government announced on Monday that experts from the two countries will meet on Wednesday and Thursday in Tokyo to discuss the safety of American beef...

U.S. Gets Favorable Rating On Mad-Cow Risk Level

Posted on May 29, 2007
Washington - The World Organization for Animal Health voted Tuesday to grant the U.S. and Canada a favorable "controlled" risk status for mad-cow disease, something the countries hope to use as a new negotiating tool to open up beef markets still closed or partially closed to beef exports...

Global animal health agency says Canada's mad cow risk is controlled

Posted on May 29, 2007
CALGARY (CP) - Canada's mad cow protection measures have earned the second-highest safety designation from the world's leading animal health organization, a stamp which the cattle industry hopes will translate into more exports. "It's a very significant step," Hugh Lynch-Staunton, president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, said Tuesday after the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health officially categorized Canada as a controlled-risk country for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)...

S. Korea, U.S. Agree to Discuss Bone-in Beef Issue

Posted on May 18, 2007
South Korea and the United States agreed Friday to discuss bone-in beef and other import quarantine issues after a world animal health organization's general assembly slated for late May. The decision was reached in a two-day-long beef technical consultation meeting in Seoul...

Scientists Closer to Unfolding Mysteries of Prion Formation in Mad Cow Disease

Posted on May 18, 2007
Short elements within a prion protein's sequence can cause it to activate and even cross the species barrier to spread neurodegenerative disorders such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease to humans Prions, the maddening, infectious proteins, and the diseases they trigger, such as the fatal neurodegenerative disorder in humans, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease—as well as its bovine counterpart, mad cow disease—have baffled scientists for decades...

BSE discovered in cow

Posted on May 03, 2007
VICTORIA – The discovery of a dairy cow infected with mad cow disease has prompted the quarantine of a Surrey-area farm. Agriculture Minister Pat Bell said the case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was discovered last week, and confirmed with additional test results revealed Wednesday...

S. Korean import of U.S. beef likely to resume next week

Posted on April 26, 2007
SEOUL, April 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's import of beef from the United States is highly likely to resume next week, three years and five months after imports were originally banned over a mad cow disease scare, agricultural officials said Thursday. "It was confirmed that the U...

US urges Japan to ease cattle ages restrictions

Posted on April 19, 2007
The United States Administration is stepping up pressure on Japan to ease age restrictions on its beef. The move comes ahead of an international panel's findings, that the US is largely free of mad cow disease. US Trade representative's office spokeswoman Gretchen Hamel denies a Japan Times story that the US has asked Tokyo to set a concrete deadline to fully reopen its market - now largely controlled by Australia...

GeneThera in Preliminary Talks for Mad Cow Testing

Posted on April 19, 2007
WHEAT RIDGE, CO -- (MARKET WIRE) -- April 16, 2007 -- GeneThera, Inc. (OTCBB: GTHA) announced today it has begun preliminary talks with ranchers to test their cattle for the Mad Cow disease. Commenting on the talks Dr. Tony Milici stated, "These preliminary talks are an important first step to establish our commercial platform once private companies will be allowed to test for Mad Cow disease in the US...

USDA extends mad cow testing at WSU veterinary college

Posted on April 05, 2007
PULLMAN, Wash. The only mad cow testing laboratory in the Pacific Northwest will remain open for at least another six months, but officials insist it isn't because of increased fears of the chronic brain-wasting disease in the region. The U-S Department of Agriculture says it extended the contract with Washington State University's College of Veterinary Medicine to test for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease...