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Medicine

Mad Cow Disease Blamed For Patient's Death In Texas 132

Posted by timothy from the where'd-it-come-from dept.
An anonymous reader writes 'Health officials say a patient in Texas has died of a rare brain disorder believed to be caused by consumption of beef products contaminated with mad cow disease. It is only the fourth known case of its kind in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement that recent laboratory tests confirmed a diagnosis of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the patient.' From the article: 'The CDC says the Texas patient's history included extensive travel to Europe and the Middle East and that it is likely the infection occurred overseas. In each of the three previous U.S. deaths, the initial infection is believed to have taken place in other countries. ... The Texas Department of State Health Services says there are no state public health concerns or threats associated with the case. State and federal health officials continue to investigate and are trying to track the source of the infection.'
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Mad Cow Disease Blamed For Patient's Death In Texas More

Mad Cow Disease Blamed For Patient's Death In Texas

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  • And the cow goes (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Moooooo!

  • TX Law (Score:4, Informative)

    by Travis Mansbridge ( 830557 ) on Friday June 06, 2014 @11:12PM (#47184961)
    They have to be careful what they say about beef in Texas, there is a law against disparaging beef in the state [ehow.com].

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by macraig ( 621737 )

      It ain't India, that's for sure. Can't disparage it but you can damned straight slaughter it and serve it up with a dash of A-1.

      • And of course, note that while they require beef from other countries to pretty much all be tested, and fully trackable back to the gleam in the bull's eye, none of that is needed for US beef, particularly that they make sure to test as few animals as possible to minimize the possibility of actually noticing that animal has CJD.

        • none of that is needed for US beef

          Exactly! That's the whole point they're trying to make; U.S. beef is safe... so why are we even talking about this?? (/sarc) Nevermind the Yale study that showed a vast proportion of the brains of those [presumed to have died of Alzheimer's] being ridden with holes from vCJD... How else are the elites supposed to solve the population problem, if not through subterfuge?? ;)

          • I was thinking about the Texas logic of "Voting with Your Wallet," it sure looks like it's a hell of a plan.
          • The "Elites" don't want to kill off the poor huddled masses, they want to enslave them to work in their sweatshops and factories. There is no profit to be made from people dying in large numbers as they (the poor) can't afford to pay for that and would just leave the bodies in a pile somewhere. The mad cow crisis has been fixed, they now slaughter cows at a sufficiently young age that they won't show evidence of mad cow disease. Out of sight, out of mind is much cheaper than banning feeding cows animal p

      • slaughter it and serve it up with a dash of A-1.

        Beef with jet A1 fuel? That sounds peculairly revolting.

        Hang on ; we're talking about Texas. That makes sense then.

      • Slaughtering is actually legal in at least two states in India, Rajastan IIRC and another of the Pak-adjacents. Many cattle are transported there for slaughter, and there are thousands of illegal slaughterhouses.
    • There's a difference between "steak sedition" and actual defamantion of a beef provider.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      Cows and corporations are people.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by plopez ( 54068 )

      Gosh, you'd think in the state where they are so protective of the 2nd amendment they would be interested in the 1st. BTW, the way this is sometimes known as the "Oprah Law" after Oprah Winfrey who aired an episode on tainted beef in TX. I guess that they can no longer tell the joke "The only mad cow in TX is Oprah" anymore.

      • I guess that they can no longer tell the joke "The only mad cow in TX is Oprah" anymore.

        After seeing several patent decisions from TX courts , I think mad cow disease is rampant in Texas for years. So I guess this joke could not be told for quite some time.

      • 2nd amendment? I think you need to read up about Texas. They are NOT the 2nd amendment friendly state everyone thinks they are, an example is if you even show the FAINT OUTLINE of a concealed firearm you can be arrested, loose your carry permit, and go to jail. Do not even mention open carry of a firearm or you will get hassled badly by law enforcement. However if you go to just about any of the surrounding states they don't care so much about carrying a firearm. Texas is set up to keep the "undesirabl
    • It's not defamation if it's true. Oprah irresponsibly used her mainstream media platform to falsely suggest that U.S. beef was affected by mad cow disease, causing a disaster in the industry. She was found not guilty, but it was enough that she was hauled into court over it.

      And seriously, a link to eHow? Eww, my mouse feels dirty after clicking on that.

      • Re:TX Law (Score:5, Informative)

        by Lord Kano ( 13027 ) on Saturday June 07, 2014 @01:56AM (#47185309) Homepage Journal

        Oprah said that SHE lost interest in eating hamburgers because of the BSE outbreak in Europe. She didn't disparage US Beef producers. She didn't tell her army of soccer moms to stop eating beef. That's why she won.

        I'm not an Oprah fan but fair is fair and suing her was bullshit.

        LK

        • Oh, please. Don't be fatuous. She's huge and has a great influence. If the outbreak is in Europe, then what is there to fear in America? Yeah, she didn't outright say "I recommend you stop eating beef immediately" but that's pretty much what happened. Suppose she had said, "I'm not going to vaccinate my children" and that would be the same thing, right? Bullshit.

          PS put your signature line in your signature file, accessible in the Slashdot user options panel.

          • She's huge and has a great influence. If the outbreak is in Europe, then what is there to fear in America?

            Probably nothing but that's not the point. Like I said, she discussed her personal preference. It doesn't matter that those middle-aged, white soccer moms followed suit. They did so on their own, as they are free to do.

            If someone were to declare that their personal religious beliefs prevented them from vaccinating their children and other people followed suit, each person is responsible for their own choices.

            LK

            • Probably nothing but that's not the point. Like I said, she discussed her personal preference. It doesn't matter that those middle-aged, white soccer moms followed suit. They did so on their own, as they are free to do.

              A bit of a straw man. But given the weird anti-science/pro personality cult that has grouwn up in the US (science is Liberal BS, Global Warming doesn't exist, the world is 6000 years old, the speed of light is variable, vaccines are the cause of other problems, people do need some responsibility for what tehy say and so.

              I would hope that eventually people will see science as science, and quit trying to determine scientific fact on polls, or politics, or how hot someoone looks without their clothes on.

              If someone were to declare that their personal religious beliefs prevented them from vaccinating their children and other people followed suit, each person is responsible for their own choices.

              LK

              Perh

              • It all happened because of the loss of herd immunity.

                You can't declare that with 100% certainty.

                What happened to your individual immunity?

                So unless these religious zealots are willing to move and make their own country, when they can revert to the dark ages and start stoning each other for working on Sunday for all I care, they have no right to kill me - none.

                Everyone is killing you. Every day. We're using electricity produced by a coal powered plant. We're driving or riding in hydrocarbon powered automobiles that spew carbon dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and aromatic carcinogens.

                LK

                • It all happened because of the loss of herd immunity.

                  You can't declare that with 100% certainty.>

                  Of course not. Very little of existance exists at the 100 percent certainty.

                  What happened to your individual immunity?

                  Now there's the interesting part. I was immunized as a child, and some vaccines "wear off" over time. At the time, the anti-Vaxxer movement was only starting to work it's magick, so at the same time my immunity was fading, whooping cough was escaping from the "herd", so to speak. Bingo, my gift from Jenny McCarthy delivered probably by some poor child who had no choice in their getting i

                  • Of course not. Very little of existance exists at the 100 percent certainty.

                    Precisely. You can't be sure nor can you prove that anti-vaccination parents are the cause of your case of Pertussis. It's just as possible that someone sneaked across the border and infected you.

                    Pertussis is an especially difficult case because the immunization threshold for herd immunity is so high. It's entirely possible that you were infected by someone who wasn't anti-vaccination but simply had some other health problem that prevented vaccination.

                    Now people know they must get vaccines like that renewed. Before that, the lack of people with the disease meant we didn't.

                    So, you somehow absolve yourself for your ignorance whil

                    • So, you somehow absolve yourself for your ignorance while condemning them for theirs.

                      So you just like to argue with people. People didn't know at that time. Perhaps you already know what you don't know?

                    • I like to play devil's advocate and to point out hypocrisy.

                      LK

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by bmo ( 77928 )

            PS put your signature line in your signature file

            No.

            --
            BMO

        • Agreed, I've seen the footage with Howard Lyman, and she said nothing legitimately actionable.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Megane ( 129182 )

      The CDC says the Texas patient's history included extensive travel to Europe and the Middle East and that it is likely the infection occurred overseas. In each of the three previous U.S. deaths, the initial infection is believed to have taken place in other countries.

      It wasn't from Texas beef.

      • The CDC says the Texas patient's history included extensive travel to Europe and the Middle East and that it is likely the infection occurred overseas. In each of the three previous U.S. deaths, the initial infection is believed to have taken place in other countries.

        It wasn't from Texas beef.

        The CDC is a liberal socialist association designed to promote the one world order. This is no time to start beliveing the Socialist hogwash they put out.

    • The story you linked to says the burden of proof is on the person suing, and must prove the statement was libelous. I believe libel is already illegal. The makes the law really stupid if it's already covered by libel laws. But it's not quite having to be careful about what you say about beef.

      • Libel of a person != libel of a food product. So, I stand by my assertion that they need to "be careful what they say about beef" in Texas. Certainly, if it's true, they have nothing to worry about.

  • Well, whatever you do.... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Don't grind the guy up and feed him to any livestock, please.

    Thanks!

    • Don't grind the guy up and feed him to any livestock, please.

      Thanks!

      ...or eat him, for that matter.

    • That form of prion disease has never jumped species. They spent millions of dollars trying to get it to jump species and the only case was when they injected it directly into the brain of a mouse. The complexity of this disease makes me think it was designed or that evolution may have been going on for a lot more than 4 billion years. Its an evolutionary solution to the problem of eating the closest thing available and stops zombie apocalypses from starting.
  • 'The Texas Department of State Health Services says there are no state public health concerns or threats associated with the case. State and federal health officials continue to investigate and are trying to track the source of the infection.'

    It's easy to say there's no concerns when it can take 30yrs to manifest, is eerily similar to Alzheimer's, and can't be diagnosed without a brain biopsy, which is rarely done.

    It'd raise the price of beef 1 cent per pound to test every cow slaughtered, but they ob
    • Teeth and nails go in the grinder.. :-)

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by bswarm ( 2540294 )
      "they obviously lobby tooth & nail against doing so" Shouldn't that be "they obviously lobby hoof and mouth against doing so"???

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by plopez ( 54068 )

        They should check for "hoof and mouth" as well.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by rossdee ( 243626 )

        No, hoof and mouth is a different disease. It doesn't affect humans at all, but it is much more contagious amongst cloven hoof quadrapeds
        (beef, shhep, pigs, etc) it would be a big disaster for the USA.

        Of course theres a separate disease called 'foot in mouth disease' that affects humans, especially politicians

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Nutria ( 679911 )

      It'd raise the price of beef 1 cent per pound to test every cow slaughtered,

      Wow... you're a deluded idiot. From TFA, which you obviously did not read:
      A U.S.D.A. surveillance program tests brain tissue taken from about 40,000 dead cows a year for BSE.

      Also from the article:
      Another key part of the U.S. food safety net is to make sure that animal tissues that can carry BSE - including the brain and spinal cord - are removed from cattle before they're processed for food.

      Not only are you a deluded idiot, but you're too stupid to do the barest of study:

      It's easy to say there's no concerns when it can take 30yrs to manifest

      Most victims die six months after [wikipedia.org]

    • Traditional CJD can take many years to manifest. A variant came about some time ago and the variant only takes a few years to show symptoms.

  • John Titor mentioned this!
  • I say MAN STEAK! MOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Mad Human Disease is here!!!!!!!!!

  • GoVegan! (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    GoVegan!

    • I'd rather not, I'm pretty sure they have some kind of neurological disorder to begin with. ;)

  • Just FYI, the inventory of Texas cows is generally shrinking year over year.

    http://tscra.org/news_blog/201... [tscra.org]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by plopez ( 54068 )

      Beef consumption is declining, thanks to "Mad Cow" and red slime, and the TX industry has been badly hit by drought too. Climate change driven drought no less.

  • ...cows are afraid of catching Mad Bundy Disease.

  • So, two cows were grazing and chatting...

    "Did you hear about that 'mad cow disease' thing?"
    "Yeah."
    "Aren't you worried?"
    "No. Why should I be? I am not a cow. I am a helicopter!"

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      FFS get some priorities - a man died! This is a mooving story.

  • And woe betide any zombies who eat his brain!

  • There's been less than 300 cases of this disease ever so this is a super rare disease.(I wouldn't be surprised if you're more likely to die from being crushed by a vending machine than ever knowing someone who died of VCJD) Or I could point out that it's actually extremely rare in US cattle not because of testing but because letting the cows graze is so cheap farmers in the US never really got into feeding their animals ground up animal parts. (Hey, doesn't the feds let these rangers graze their animals on

    • [...] farmers in the US never really got into feeding their animals ground up animal parts.

      Not quite. Feeding cows to cows had to be explicitly banned by the FDA. Now we feed cows to chickens then feed "poultry litter" to cows. http://www.motherjones.com/tom... [motherjones.com]

  • My brother in law died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in Wisconsin. They said he could have been infected up to 20 years earlier, it hangs around until it flares up.

    Trust me, it is NOT a good way to go. Similar to death from Alzheimers, but only takes about a month. Mys ister had a hard finding someone to take the body, noone wanted to touch it.

  • Its what's for dinner.

  • Some further detail (Score:3)

    by Torgo's Pizza ( 547926 ) on Sunday June 08, 2014 @02:42AM (#47189071) Homepage Journal

    My parents were very good friends with the victim and his wife. His death had a large impact on his family and those that knew him. His death occurred only a few months ago. He was in otherwise good health until recently. Doctor's suspected something neurological but only diagnosed him with probable CJD *after* exploratory brain surgery. Needless to say, the entire hospital and staff were exposed; which prompted immediate attention from state and federal health officials. I'm actually surprised that news of this incident hasn't been publicized until now.

    The family does believe that he contracted the disease during his out of the country travels, and *not* in Texas. As a previous poster mentioned, CJD is a tragic way to go. To the family, it was a sudden shock and a rapid deterioration with absolutely no hope for recovery. I have great admiration for his wife who stood by his side the entire time as she stood by and cared for him until the end.

    • Doctor's[sic] suspected something neurological but only diagnosed him with probable CJD *after* exploratory brain surgery. Needless to say, the entire hospital and staff were exposed

      How, pray tell? Did they make a pate out of the cuttings?

      • That's a pretty rude and awful joke..

        Exposure to TSE/CJD is really a very big threat for medical facilities - it's hard to clean off surgical items, and so contamination can happen very quickly if it's not suspected..combine that with the fact they're not 100% certain how TSE/CJD spreads, and if it can spread from more than brain and spinal fluids..

        In the name of sensitivity and good taste, why not try looking this sort of thing up before saying something both ignorant, and potentially hurtful?

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by phorm ( 591458 )

          If it is that virulant, then wouldn't be a fairly *huge* risk in the meat market as well. I mean, you've got nearby animals, slaughterhouse floor, instruments, workers, etc...

          Everything I've always read indicated infection came from absorbing materials that had direct contact with the cerebral-spinal system due to infectious prions, and that there wasn't much risk even with meat on the same animal but away from such areas (obviously you still wouldn't want to eat it though).

        • If it could be spread by mere contact, don't you think there'd be more than a few hundred cases?

  • Faster, we can still make it to Madagascar!

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