09-07-2010, 11:00
(This post was last modified: 09-07-2010, 11:01 by roseability86.)
Right... I found this (source Wikipedia, so may not be reliable but I found it interesting):
(For those who are unfamiliar, BSE is mad cow disease and CJD is the human contraction of it, so the first figure is the number of cases in cows in that country, the second number is how many humans have contracted it since).
As stated before, New Zealand and Argentina are BSE free and always have been, but so is CHINA! Well Hong Kong had two reported infected cattle but no outbreaks of the disease in human form. All of the articles I have found about China, whilst mainly reporting the same news, have stated that China was very selective about the beef it let into the country - I think it's safe to say that BSE in China is a rumour unless anyone can find anything different?
If the country your supply comes from is not one of the following, I reckon it's probably fine:
Austria
BSE: 5
CJD: 0
Belgium
BSE: 133[34]
CJD: 0
Canada
BSE: 17[35]
CJD: 1[5]
Czech Republic
BSE: 28[36]
CJD: 0
Denmark
BSE: 14[37]
CJD: 0
Falkland Islands
BSE: 1
CJD: 0
Finland
BSE: 1
CJD: 0
France
BSE: [38]900
CJD: 25[5]
Germany
BSE: 312
CJD: 0
Greece
BSE: 1[39]
CJD: 0
Hong Kong
BSE: 2
CJD: 0
Ireland
BSE: 1,353
CJD: 4[5]
Israel
BSE: 1[40]
CJD: 56
Italy
BSE: 138[41]
CJD: 1[5]
Japan
BSE: 26
CJD: 1[5]
Liechtenstein
BSE: 2
CJD: 0
Luxembourg
BSE: 2
CJD: 1
Netherlands
BSE: 85[42]
CJD: 3[5]
Oman
BSE: 2
CJD: 0
Poland
BSE: 21
CJD: 0
Portugal
BSE: 875
CJD: 2[5]
Saudi Arabia
BSE: 0
CJD: 1[5]
Slovakia
BSE: 15
CJD: 0
Slovenia
BSE: 7
CJD: 0
Spain
BSE: 412
CJD: 5[5]
Sweden
BSE: 1
CJD: 0
Switzerland
BSE: 453
CJD: 0
Thailand
BSE: [43]
CJD: 2
United Kingdom (the biggie Sad)
BSE: 183,841
CJD: 170[5]
United States
BSE: 3[35]
CJD: 3[5]
Total
BSE: 188,579
CJD: 275
It is also interesting and useful to remember that it takes about 10 years for the disease to manifest itself in symptoms - a very long incubation period - so any scare stories where some girl took some pills and got mad cow disease are very unlikely to be true. She would have had to have taken them 10 years before she got ill, and still be able to pinpoint it to the pills?
Please feel free to contribute. I feel this is an important issue for all of our well-being
(For those who are unfamiliar, BSE is mad cow disease and CJD is the human contraction of it, so the first figure is the number of cases in cows in that country, the second number is how many humans have contracted it since).
As stated before, New Zealand and Argentina are BSE free and always have been, but so is CHINA! Well Hong Kong had two reported infected cattle but no outbreaks of the disease in human form. All of the articles I have found about China, whilst mainly reporting the same news, have stated that China was very selective about the beef it let into the country - I think it's safe to say that BSE in China is a rumour unless anyone can find anything different?
If the country your supply comes from is not one of the following, I reckon it's probably fine:
Austria
BSE: 5
CJD: 0
Belgium
BSE: 133[34]
CJD: 0
Canada
BSE: 17[35]
CJD: 1[5]
Czech Republic
BSE: 28[36]
CJD: 0
Denmark
BSE: 14[37]
CJD: 0
Falkland Islands
BSE: 1
CJD: 0
Finland
BSE: 1
CJD: 0
France
BSE: [38]900
CJD: 25[5]
Germany
BSE: 312
CJD: 0
Greece
BSE: 1[39]
CJD: 0
Hong Kong
BSE: 2
CJD: 0
Ireland
BSE: 1,353
CJD: 4[5]
Israel
BSE: 1[40]
CJD: 56
Italy
BSE: 138[41]
CJD: 1[5]
Japan
BSE: 26
CJD: 1[5]
Liechtenstein
BSE: 2
CJD: 0
Luxembourg
BSE: 2
CJD: 1
Netherlands
BSE: 85[42]
CJD: 3[5]
Oman
BSE: 2
CJD: 0
Poland
BSE: 21
CJD: 0
Portugal
BSE: 875
CJD: 2[5]
Saudi Arabia
BSE: 0
CJD: 1[5]
Slovakia
BSE: 15
CJD: 0
Slovenia
BSE: 7
CJD: 0
Spain
BSE: 412
CJD: 5[5]
Sweden
BSE: 1
CJD: 0
Switzerland
BSE: 453
CJD: 0
Thailand
BSE: [43]
CJD: 2
United Kingdom (the biggie Sad)
BSE: 183,841
CJD: 170[5]
United States
BSE: 3[35]
CJD: 3[5]
Total
BSE: 188,579
CJD: 275
It is also interesting and useful to remember that it takes about 10 years for the disease to manifest itself in symptoms - a very long incubation period - so any scare stories where some girl took some pills and got mad cow disease are very unlikely to be true. She would have had to have taken them 10 years before she got ill, and still be able to pinpoint it to the pills?
Please feel free to contribute. I feel this is an important issue for all of our well-being
