USDA Should Clean American Beef Industry to Eradicate Mad Cow Disease

On April 24, USDA confirmed that a fourth case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or BSE, commonly known as mad cow disease, has been discovered. It is the first case of mad cow disease in the United States since 2006. BSE is a fatal brain wasting disease amongst cows that can be transmitted to humans who eat infected beef. The human version, called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), which has not been reported, is also fatal.

Photo courtesy: Marijnvb, sxc.hu

USDA stated that a single cow, already dead and waiting to be pulverized at a rendering plant in central California, had tested positive for a mutant strain of the brain wasting BSE. The mad cow was never meant to be eaten, USDA's press release seemed to reassure Americans, and the particular strain of BSE isn't linked to contaminated feed (some strains of mad cow can appear spontaneously in older cows instead of being transmitted). But the only convincing reassurance that I read "as the epidemiological investigation progresses," was that milk, even from BSE cows, is safe.

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It really is time for USDA to clean up American beef. Take a tougher stance against bovine growth hormone. No pink slime, no non-vegetarian cows eating soybean meal laced with blood, chicken and pigs! The same applies to our nation's cannibal poultry and pork. While yesterday's mad cow may be the only one, it is time for USDA to make some dramatic changes to our meat industry.

Related news: USDA Confirms Single Mad Cow Disease Case in California