California dairy cow had mad cow disease
Health officials have confirmed that a dairy cow in California’s Central Valley had bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly referred to as the mad cow disease, but insist that the US beef and dairy products are safe.
- BSE is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that can be easily passed on to humans; it has an incubation period of up to 8 year in cattle and about 12 years in humans.
- The disease is easily transmitted to humans by eating food contaminated with the brain, spinal cord or digestive tract of infected carcasses.
- An outbreak of BSE in the United Kingdom killed at least 166 people (an additional 50 known fatalities occurred in other countries) and about 180,000 cattle in the 1980s, and forced the authorities to destroy about 4.5 million cows at cost of more than $7 billion.
- BSE prion is not destroyed through cooking and can be transmitted to humans who consume contaminated beef products.
- An estimated half a million cattle infected with BSE entered the human food chain in the 1980s.
- A second strain of BSE prion, discovered in 2004, may have also entered the food chain.
- The diseased animal was he first confirmed case of mad cow disease in the U.S. in 6 years.
- The first known case of BSE infection in North America was reported in Alberta, Canada in 1993.
- South Korea has suspended sales of U.S. beef on Wednesday.
Other Global Disasters, Significant Events
- Pennsylvania, USA. Pennsylvania Governor has declared a statewide disaster emergency following the chaos caused by the late spring storm. Parts of western and northern Pennsylvania were paralyzed by heavy snowfall, and the rest of the State experienced heavy rain.
- Florida, USA. A total of 12 counties in Florida have been designated by USDA as Natural Disaster Areas due to damage and losses caused by frost and freezing temperatures that occurred January 3-16, 2012.
- Primary natural disaster areas in Florida: Hendry, Nassau and Palm Beach counties.
- Contiguous disaster areas: Baker, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Duval, Glades, Lee, Martin and Okeechobee counties.
- Georgia. Charlton and Camden counties in Georgia were also declared natural disaster areas because they’re contiguous.
Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background
- The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
- Back to the Primordial Future
- The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
- Mass Die-offs
- 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
- Mega Disasters
- 2011 Disaster Calendar
- 2012 Disaster Calendar
Fire Earth 