French Goat Tests Positive for BSE: EU Confirms

[Ivan Seeking]

European Union confirmed on Friday.

After more than two years of testing the remains of the slaughtered goat, the European Commission said it would undertake more testing to determine if this was an isolated incident. [continued]

http://www.dehavilland.co.uk/webhos...D=13003504&ServiceID=8&filterid=10&searchid=8

 

[Moonbear]

BSE?? I read the story, but I'm wondering if it got it right. Had it said TSE, goats have their own variety (sheep and goats both get scrapie), but if a goat really tested positive with BSE, that's worrisome (especially to someone like me who regularly works with sheep brains...if it can be transmitted to a goat, it's likely to be transmitted to a sheep since sheep and goats are more closely related than goats and cattle). I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for further reports to see if that is clarified or emphasized.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

It hasn't hit the US press yet but it appears to be genuine
http://sask.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/goat050128.html

but then

The EU bans the use of milk and meat from herds affected by a TSE case.
Efthymiou yesterday issued a statement saying there was no link between TSE and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), otherwise known as Mad Cow Disease.

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=17908&cat_id=1

but
http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/05/105&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

I would imagine that we'll know pretty quickly if its a mistake.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

whoops, still had another one minimized.
http://www.canada.com/health/story.html?id=24fb5408-b9c8-4575-adec-61e5c3c616e0

doesn't look good Moonbear.

 

[Moonbear]

whoops, still had another one minimized.
http://www.canada.com/health/story.html?id=24fb5408-b9c8-4575-adec-61e5c3c616e0

doesn't look good Moonbear.

Uh oh! That last one cinched it. It made it clear the reporter, or whoever gave the press release, knows the difference between TSE and BSE, specifically. From the first article, I wasn't sure if that was a reporter misunderstanding and saying mad cow disease when it was supposed to be a mad-cow-like disease.

If I start acting more strangely than usual, we'll know why.

 

[Chronos]

If I read this correctly, the goat incidence is not that surprising:
http://www.arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0302447

 

[Ivan Seeking]

They also comment on this in the last news link

Britain's Food Standards Agency said bovine spongiform encephalopathy in sheep and goats was always considered a theoretical possibility...

 

[Moonbear]

It is surprising because there is a BIG difference between a theoretical possibility and it actually happening. There has always been a chance it could cross to species more closely related to cattle, but it hadn't happened yet, or at least nobody had observed it yet. TSEs aren't new entities, and cattle, sheep and goats have been sharing pastures and feed supplies for a long time, so perhaps the more surprising thing is that now we know it really can happen, why hadn't it happened sooner?

 

[selfAdjoint]

perhaps the more surprising thing is that now we know it really can happen, why hadn't it happened sooner?

Maybe it did, but because it was before the BSE/CJD flap, it wasn't noticed. Sheep get sick and die all the time and it would have seemed just another TSE case if they didn't do a careful study.

 

[bross7]

We really have no idea how long any of this has gone on. Until the first major reports of this happening I find it hard to believe that there were no cases of BSE in cattle. It is very likely that farmers would have just removed the infected cattle from the herd with the assumption that they were just ill and not ill of the nature. I also would not be surprised if cases of BSE got into the processing factories as those have not exactly been the model of perfect ethics.

I find it hard to believe that the only cases in the world are coming from Canadian cattle, you would hope that people would be entirely honest about their work, but when you are facing the possible culling of an entire herd of cattle, which amount to a majority of your revenue, you are very likley going to find those who will try to cover this up.

 

[iansmith]

TSEs aren't new entities, and cattle, sheep and goats have been sharing pastures and feed supplies for a long time, so perhaps the more surprising thing is that now we know it really can happen, why hadn't it happened sooner?

In Canada and some other countries, sheep and, if i remember correctly, goatsare produce in way that most will carry a natural genetic protection against scrapies. This might have decrease the odds of BSE transmitted back to the sheep and goat.

Herd management might also have influence the transmission.

 

[Moonbear]

In Canada and some other countries, sheep and, if i remember correctly, goatsare produce in way that most will carry a natural genetic protection against scrapies. This might have decrease the odds of BSE transmitted back to the sheep and goat.

Herd management might also have influence the transmission.

I know long before TSEs became the subject of popular media reports, there was a concerted effort going on to certify sheep and goat herds as Scrapie-free. It may be that herd management was a factor, and because the farmers and producers had a self-imposed industry standard, this had been avoided as the catastrophe it turned into in the cattle industry.

bross7, BSE is not new in cattle. There were two reasons it came to the forefront as an issue. 1) It hit epidemic proportions in Britain and some other countries, sufficiently to have serious repercussions in the industry and 2) identification of vCJD in humans as possibly being transmitted from those cattle made it a human health concern, not just a concern for the cattle industry.

selfAdjoint, you're correct, it may have occurred before, and wasn't detected because nobody tested for it thinking it was scrapie.