August 2007 Mad Cow News

S. KOREA reimposes ban on U.S. beef imports

South Korea's farm ministry was cited as saying Thursday it has suspended all quarantine work on American beef because some of beef shipped from the United States contained spine columns -- risk material connected with mad cow disease. Japan Today Link

ILLINOIS: State public health department reports NO Mad Cow Disease cases in Illinois: Cases of human brain-wasting disease often confused and misreported as BSE, more commonly referred to as Mad Cow Disease

Springfield -– Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) officials report today there are no confirmed or suspected cases of a type of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in Illinois, commonly referred to as human mad cow disease. CJD is a rare, fatal brain disorder that causes mental deterioration and a variety of neurological symptoms, which usually leads to death within a year of onset.
There are various forms of CJD. In approximately 85 percent of CJD cases, the cause is unknown. These cases are referred to as sporadic CJD. Another form, called variant CJD, linked to the consumption of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) contaminated beef, has not been identified in Illinois. Other forms include genetic and acquired CJD. There is approximately one CJD case per one million people. Contact between people does not present a risk of transmission of any form CJD. The disease is not spread through the air or by touching someone with CJD. All forms are fatal. Illinois.gov Link

ALBERTA: Newly discovered prion protein may offer insight into mad cow disease

Scientists have discovered a new protein that may offer fresh insights into brain function in mad cow disease. "Our team has defined a second prion protein called 'Shadoo', that exists in addition to the well-known prion protein called 'PrP' " said Professor David Westaway, director of the Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases at the University of Alberta.
"For decades we believed PrP was a unique nerve protein that folded into an abnormal shape and caused prion disease: end of story. This view is no longer accurate," Westaway adds.
The study was conducted jointly by the University of Toronto, University of Alberta, Case Western Reserve University (Ohio) and the McLaughlin Research Institute (Montana). The research is published today in the EMBO Journal and represents a culmination of work initiated at the University of Toronto in 1999, and then continued more recently at the University of Alberta. Science Daily.com Link