Brazil now has its first confirmed mad cow. It took awhile to publicize it. The cow was 13 years old and died Dec. 18, 2010. It was test for BSE April 11, 2011, with a neg. result. Retested June 15, 2012 with a positive result for BSE (mad cow disease). Retested again in the UK on Dec. 6, 2012 positive for BSE.
The epidemiological investigation shows that the animal’s death was not caused by BSE and suggests that it may be an atypical case of the disease occurring in the oldest animals. Information collected during the epidemiological investigation shows also that the animal was reared in an extensive system on grazing. Note by the OIE: Brazil is still recognized by the OIE as having a negligible BSE risk in accordance with Chapter 11.5. of the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code. sourceSo....what is the concern? Even in a country where is no known BSE, we find there is. And, it is not the usual kind that causes humans to get the disease, but it is thought to be atypical BSE. Atypical is the US variety of BSE. Maybe, just maybe, atypical BSE transmits to humans a resulting CJD that does not look like the CJD humans got from eating mad cows in the Uk that had a different strain of BSE. And if so, what does the different strain of CJD look like in Brazil and the US? Good question. And maybe, just maybe, the CWD found in elk and deer transmits to humans a new form of CJD? What would it look like? And, we know that sheep have the same disease, Scrapie. Could it transmit to humans a form of CJD that is different from the CJD in the UK? And if so, what would this look like in humans? Maybe, just maybe, it could look like Alzheimer's? Just maybe. What does Alzheimer's look like? It looks so much like CJD that some patients with CJD are diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
If you are trusting in the government to protect you from diseases transmitted by animals, you will be sadly disappointed. The number of known cases continue to rise. But, if the relationship between BSE, Scrapie, and CWD and Alzheimer's exists, then the numbers are staggering.