DrugInformations.org

In a move to reduce the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as “mad cow disease”, and protect the health of humans and animals, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned certain high risk animal parts from all animal feed, including pet food. The rule was issued yesterday, 23rd April, and will come into force in 12 months to give the industry time to put it into practice.

More: continued here

No Comments »

Two people have died of vCJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease), the human form of mad cow disease, in Castilla-Leon, central Spain. One person (51) died three months ago while the other one (26) died last week, say authorities. According to Spain’s Health Department, these were not the first vCJD deaths in the country.

More: continued here

No Comments »

Researchers from the United Kingdom and France have identified four separate biochemical subgroups in a selection of cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The study, published March 14th in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens, suggests that these subgroups could represent distinct prion strains in what is the most common human prion disease.

More: continued here

No Comments »

UK and French researchers have identified four separate biochemical subgroups in a selection of cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The study, published March 14th in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens, suggests that these subgroups could represent distinct prionstrains in what is the most common human prion disease.

More: continued here

No Comments »

A nano-sensor for better detection of Mad Cow Disease agentIn an advance in food safety, researchers in New York are reporting development of a nano-sized sensor that detects record low levels of the deadly prion proteins that cause Mad Cow Disease and other so-called prion diseases.

More: continued here

No Comments »

The largest recall of beef in U.S. history - over 143 million pounds - and the solid evidence that USDA has failed to enforce its own ban against downer cattle being used in the nation’s school lunch program, demand immediate action by Congress says food safety attorney William D. Marler.

More: continued here

No Comments »

Seven former medical officials are on trial in France following a 17 year investigation into over 100 deaths from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) of young patients treated with contaminated growth hormones.The defendants, retired doctors and pharmacists in their 70s and 80s, are accused of manslaughter, aggravated deception and causing unintentional injury, said Reuters news agency.

More: continued here

No Comments »

Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) has killed a 39 year old woman in the UK and triggered renewed fears that a new surge of mad cow disease is on the way. However, experts are saying there is no need to panic and there is no evidence of a new wave of BSE or mad cow disease. [click link for full article]

More: continued here

No Comments »

An animal which was born before new feed regulations came into force has been confirmed to be infected with mad-cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE), says the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The agency says the 11-year-old cow from Alberta had not entered the human food or animal feed systems, and the carcass in under CFIA control. [click link for full article]

More: continued here

No Comments »

Rapid diagnostic testing used to check for the presence of prion diseases such as “mad cow disease” might fail to identify some highly infectious samples, researchers have found. Currently, scanning beef or other meat products for possible prion infection involves sampling brain tissue from the animal for abnormally folded prion protein, also called PrP; this form of PrP, which is sticky and hard to degrade, is believed to be the infectious agent behind prion diseases. [click link for full article]

More: continued here

No Comments »