Brain TrustChapters 19 - 21

Chapter 19The Monitors

1964: Gaylord Hartsough provided evidence of a scrapie-like disease in cows at a NIH conference

Late 1960s: Ranchers began finding their cattle dead with their organs surgically removed

Occurred in 15 states including South Dakota, Montana, New Mexico and Texas

Correlation between the spread of CWD and the number of reports of mutilated cattle in Colorado and Wyoming

1974: A mutilated buck deer was found with removed sex organs 85 miles south of Twin Cities, Minnesota

1975: Governor Richard D. Lamm of Colorado called the mass mutilations “one of the greatest outrages in the history of the western cattle industry” and the press began to take notice

Rewards for $10,000+ were offered for information leading to the mutilators and their potential arrest

1980s: A series of investigations were launched but nobody was caught or charged

The idea became a joking matter due to media hype and the idea that aliens in UFOs were responsible for the mutilations

Cow MutilationsThe most common organs that were found missing

were the reproductive organs, anus/large intestine, eye and tongue

This makes sense because when a cow ingests contaminated feed, the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and then internal organs become prion-infected

A study in January 2003 showed high levels of prions in hamster tongues after initial prion infection

Prions can accumulate in the lens of the eyes of CJD patients

Also, the prion disease could be spread to offspring and the area surrounding the site of childbirth

EvidenceKelleher discovered formaldehyde in the eye of a

mutilated cow, which could be used to prevent local wildlife from eating the infected tissue of the mutilated cows

Tranquilizers and sedative chemicals (oxindole, ketamine and succinylcholine) were also found, most likely to immobilize and euthanize the cows

Succinylcholine is especially hard to find because its byproducts resemble normal bodily byproducts

In a case 20 miles from Great Falls, Minnesota, a large-gauge needle was found under a carcass

Could have been used to drain the entire cow in 30 minutes

Potential ExplanationsVeterinarians often explained the cause of mutilations

as “predators and scavengers”

Kelleher predicts that the mutilations were a technique for tracking an infected organism and monitoring its spread via helicopter

This technique was used in 1993 when anthrax was causing high wildlife mortality rates

Ranchers suggest their cows are lifted into the aircraft and then returned after the mutilation

Who do you think is responsible for the mutilations and why are they so secretive? Is this a good technique?

Chapter 20Hot Zone

CanadaMay 2003: The provincial government of Alberta

released a news report about the quarantine of an Alberta farm for an investigation of a BSE case

Still encourage people to consume beef

The United States appeared to have shut out Canadian beef

Secretly allowed the importation of millions of tons of Canadian beef while telling the American public otherwise

How did the government’s response to the BSE case in Alberta affect other ranchers? Do you think there was really only one case?

The BSE-positive cow was traced back to Saskatchewan where potentially CWD-infected elk could have entered the cow feed

Scrapie-positive sheep along with nine cases of CWD in elk were found in the same area between 1996 and 2003

Alberta and Saskatchewan were also subject to several cattle mutilations in 1979 and a man died from CJD

Are the three separate outbreaks of prion disease a coincidence or are they connected?

Chapter 21 U.S. Mad Cow

December 2003: The first official case of mad cow disease in the US was announced in Washington State

USDA announced that the cow was from CanadaMad mink inoculations from the 1990s occurred 12

miles from the location of this case

USDA recalled beef in many western states and announced restrictions regarding the contents of ground beef

A 2003 USDA survey found that 35% of randomly sampled ground beef contained “unacceptable level of brain tissue”

Richard Marsh and other BSE experts were finally given credit and taken seriously

FDA announced that they would work to close three loopholes created by the USDA regarding feeding cattle to other cattle:

Feeding poultry excrement to cattle since poultry feed includes cattle remains

Feeding restaurant waste including beef to cattleFeeding cattle and sheep blood to cattle and calves

to bulk them

The FDAs proposal never reached the Federal Register so no regulation to fill the loopholes ever actually took place until summer of 2004

NVSL, a central testing facility in Ames, Iowa was relocated due to limited security and close proximity to other businesses

Falsified Records?USDA position stated that the cow was killed for

being a downer and follow up inspections discovered BSE

Dave Louthan and three other witnesses say the cow could walk and appeared healthy on the day of slaughter

What do you think is the truth? What motive does the lying party have to falsify the information?

The USDA and the cattle industry continue to tell Americans that eating beef is safe

The USDA announces that it would test 120,000 of the nation’s slaughtered animals

Meanwhile, 58 countries refused American beef, especially Japan who tested 100% of the cows that the public ate

The USDA refused to allow Creekstone Farms Premium Beef of Kentucky to test every cow because that would not be “scientifically warranted”

Why do you think the government refused such a precautionary measure?

The USDA announces that it would test 120,000 of the nation’s slaughtered animals

Meanwhile, 58 countries refused American beef, especially Japan who tested 100% of the cows that the public ate

The USDA refused to allow Creekstone Farms Premium Beef of Kentucky to test every cow because that would not be “scientifically warranted”

Why do you think the government refused such a precautionary measure?

May 2004: A second mad cow case popped up in Texas but the USDA quickly covered it up

A downer cow that was “unfit for human consumption” was sent to a rendering plant

Led to an investigation of the USDA that found that only 3 of the 350,000 cattle that had been slaughtered at Lone Star Beef facility between 2002 and 2003 were actually tested for BSE

June 2004: USDA initiated a plan to implement a 4-hour rapid screening test on 220,000 downer cows in 18 months

2 animals tested BSE-positive but the IHC “gold standard” assay reported these animals negative

Meanwhile, an unnoticed epidemic in the 1980s affecting an estimated 50,000 cows was discovered to have occurred in France and a 7th person died of variant CJD