Has anyone died of Mad Cow Disease in the US?

[Melora]

No? I didnt think so!

Oh I am SO irritated with my step kids mom. She is known for going completely overboard on so many issues but this one has topped them.

Because of the mad cow disease found quite awhile ago she has told my step son (8) that he may not eat red meat until Feb.

She has him so scared that when we got burgers last weekend he told my son (also 8) that if he ate his burger, he was going to die.

I was pretty irritated but held my tongue because I know if I said what I was thinking and it got back to her I would never hear the end of it....

So this weekend, thinking it was Feb 1st I started to go out and get some burgers (we only have them on Sat when the step kids are here, during the week we stick to healthier fare like chicken, pasta and fish). My stepson said "NO..I don't want to get sick and die... its only Jan 31st..tomorrow I can eat burgers..not today!"

Yes... the burgers that are in the freezer today loaded with mad cow disease will magically become pure and edible tomorrow.

Vent over.... ***SIGH***

 

[Laura]

I'm just curious, but what does she think happens in February?

 

[Melora]

I'm assuming that she feels that that will have been long enough from when the disease was found to make it safe to eat beef.

 

[dumboiu]

I think she is wrong. I believe that it can take years to show up.

 

[battricia]

Originally posted by dumboiu
I think she is wrong. I believe that it can take years to show up.

but in that case she may be RIGHT! no one can be sure for quite some time, since it usually takes years for mad cow to effect humans. Though I'm not quite sure what she assumes will happen after Feb.

 

[dumboiu]

Originally posted by battricia
but in that case she may be RIGHT! no one can be sure for quite some time, since it usually takes years for mad cow to effect humans. Though I'm not quite sure what she assumes will happen after Feb.

Her thought processes are clearly not scientific evidence based!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Check with that collins guy from N Ireland, he probably knows.

 

[damo]

Originally posted by Dan Murphy
Check with that collins guy from N Ireland, he probably knows.

Whoa Dan, do I detect a little sarcasm here?

 

[Kallison]

Well not to side with your MIL and I'm sure MCD is a very, very low risk -- but there have been deaths, usually attributed to being intially infected from other countries. There was an article in our paper how MCD is never, ever listed as the cause of death in this country but usually a side effect of the disease is given as the actual cause on the certificate.

ON the being flip side, whenever we eat out and a waiter asks my kids how they want their burgers they say - without the mad cow disease please.

 

[damo]

With the recent scare, many articles have come out stating that there are many disease linked to eating beef that have not yet been fully explored, such as Alzheimer's disease. She is probably freaked out by them.

I'm surprized she is letting him eat chicken, since chicken are fed feed that is partially made up of dead cows. Maybe that will be what he can't eat in February

 

[lizdotcom99]

Originally posted by Dan Murphy
Check with that collins guy from N Ireland, he probably knows.

I LOVE this Dan!!!! You are the best!!!! And I agree, certainly HE MUST know!!

 

[hipporina]

Personally, my family and I aren't eating beef right now. At first I thought it was silly not to, but they kept finding more and more risk. Once I found out that some of the bad feed had made it here to Texas and there was even concern about it at Texas A&M University I changed my mind. It has really been pretty easy for us since we are focusing on eating healthier anyway. But I do think it is a little strange to put a date on when it will be safe first. For now, I'm just waiting for information.

I know I'm weird, and I'm ready to be told so, so go right ahead!

 

[Snowysmom]

I read an article about a woman who now lives in the US who has Mad Cow disease but she lived in England for most of her life and that is where she got it. She is stable at this point because of a new treatment for it, not a cure though. My son has done 2 papers for biology classes on this topic and it really isn't pleasant. I hope the beef industry does better in the future to help prevent this. I am trying to figure out what is magical about February but maybe she feels that is when the beef supply is safe.

 

[AspiringCindy]

THE CDC web site has info on this. When I went on the site last night, I read that the only diagnosed case of Mad Cow Disease in the US as of Dec. 2003, was the 22 year old Fla. girl who lived in England until her teens. It is there that she contracted mad cow disease. The cases from Washington State did test positive...consequently some of the herd was quaranteed. It is also known that the infected animal was brought to the US from Canada in 2001. CDC also states that meat gets tested periodically!

 

[Beckysc]

Hipporina,

What did you hear about regarding Texas A&M? I haven't heard anything about it.

Thanks.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

So far there has only been the one cow that tested positive. It was from a herd brought into the US from Canada in 1997 and sold at auction. None of it's herd mates or any of the other cows that have been located so far that came from that original herd have tested positive.

 

[KristiKelly]

My Mom worked with a man from England, he had been in the states 25 or so years. Dec. 2002 he had numbness on one side of his face and his equilibrium was effected. Everyone thought he'd had a stroke. He went to our local hospital and they ran numerous tests and nothing showed anything - not a stroke or anything. Finally, his wife took him to Duke Univ., again they couln't find anything, but narrowed it down to Mad Cow, they didn't have the proper testing equipment or something for this disease, the only way to find out for sure was a brain autopsy - well that would be a little to late. He died Feb. 2003, and did infact die of mad cow. After looking back, his family realized that their mother had died of similar symptoms many years ago in England. Although he had been here for many years, the Dr's believe that this had incubated ( I guess you could say) in him since before he came to USA 25-30 ago. So, yes, I do know someone who has died from mad cow.

 

[AspiringCindy]

I wonder why the CDC does not recognize this case in their statistics?

QUOTE]Originally posted by KristiKelly
My Mom worked with a man from England, he had been in the states 25 or so years. Dec. 2002 he had numbness on one side of his face and his equilibrium was effected. Everyone thought he'd had a stroke. He went to our local hospital and they ran numerous tests and nothing showed anything - not a stroke or anything. Finally, his wife took him to Duke Univ., again they couln't find anything, but narrowed it down to Mad Cow, they didn't have the proper testing equipment or something for this disease, the only way to find out for sure was a brain autopsy - well that would be a little to late. He died Feb. 2003, and did infact die of mad cow. After looking back, his family realized that their mother had died of similar symptoms many years ago in England. Although he had been here for many years, the Dr's believe that this had incubated ( I guess you could say) in him since before he came to USA 25-30 ago. So, yes, I do know someone who has died from mad cow. [/QUOTE]

 

[KristiKelly]

AspiringCindy, I don't know why it's not recorded, but I called my mom to confrim this before I entered it. They did not feel that it was contracted in the U.S. This was never made public in our area, the family told who they felt should know.