Mad cow disease, also known as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BCE), is a prion disease. Prions cause rare progressive neurodegenerative disorders that affect both humans and animals. They are distinguished by long incubation periods, characteristic spongiform changes associated with neuronal loss, and a failure to induce inflammatory response [1] . In humans, prion diseases impair brain function and memory. This includes personality changes, a decline in intellectual function (dementia), and neurological problems that worsen over time. In the U.S., human infections are rare, resulting in infection of approximately one in one million people. Once infected, there is no cure and death occurs within months of disease onset.
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- Learn critical facts about prions.
- Prions are believed to be proteins; they can cross the blood brain barrier, and are therefore nearly impossible to treat.
- Prion transmission from cow to human occurs when humans consume infected cow brains. Although this may seem a non-point for the average meat-consumer, contamination generally occurs during meat processing.
- Unlike other diseases transmitted by food, prions cannot be removed from meat by sanitation or heat.
- Fortunately, cows show signs of the disease just as humans do, such as an inability to stand.[2] This helps farmers, meat processors and relevant authorities to identify cases and prevent outbreaks, as well as stopping infected meat from entering the food distribution chain.[3]
- Watch for meat recalls. In the United States, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for food recall decisions and public notification.
- Watching for meat recalls is easier said than done. The FDA reports on recalled food consistently. This information can be found at fsis.usda.gov.[4] Rather than weeding through the lengthy list, it is better to subscribe to public health alerts.
- Historically, prion diseases were big news. Unfortunately, this is no longer true, as shown by the lack of coverage of a confirmed case in California in 2012 after a dairy cow became “lame.”[5] You now have to actively seek out the information yourself.
- Only buy meat from local farmers. Often, that the pound of beef you picked up at the local grocery store came from multiple cows.[6] Ground meat is continually produced and is composed of different cuts of meat from different cows. This increases the likelihood of contamination. On the other hand, buying from local farms in bulk provides a discount, allows you to know where your beef comes from, and is less likely to be contaminated.
- The larger the facility, the more product produced, resulting in increased chances of oversight.
- Of course, get to know your local farmer and their history. If your local farmer has had no meat recalls in the past, allows the cows to free roam graze, and does not feed the animals “animal bi-products,” then the health of the animals is likely good. Local meat is safer than meat found mass produced containing multiple cows.
- Cut back on meat consumption, change your source of meat (fish and poultry) or become vegetarian. Becoming vegetarian is the best way to prevent mad cow disease; obviously if you don’t eat contaminated meat then, in theory, you can’t be infected. That said, many of our foods come contaminated, in much the same way as they have throughout history––through error, oversight and sloppy work practices. It’s best to know where your food comes from and to pay a little extra for foodstuffs that are high risk, such as meat and fresh produce.
- Local foods are less likely to become contaminated. This is also true for processing; the less exposure our food has before being consumed, the less likely it is to be contaminated by any infectious agent.
Edit Tips
- For some more perspective on the American meatpacking industry during the 20th century, check out a classic, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.
- Keep the risk in perspective. In the U.S. the risk of acquiring a prion disease is one in one million, whereas E. coli infections are 24,000 per one million. In the UK, to October 2009, 166 people had died from Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease (the human version of mad cow disease).[2]
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