MORE ALARMS

Last Wednesday, Michael Greger's thorough and alarming analysis of the CJD risk among Americans from possible BSE in the food supply was published on the Web (and linked here, of course), calling for increased CDC attention to the issue. Coincidentally (?) the next day, the CDC "urged doctors to be on the lookout for suspect cases of mad cow disease in humans." What, are the CDC jumping on the "alarmist" bandwagon too? If so, it's gonna be crowded, what with people such as Wisconsin's state veterinarian saying that he "believes more cases will be found in cattle in America," as well as Northeastern University professor of chemistry Ira Krull, who says "there are many more undocumented cases just waiting to be discovered," adding: "The American public should be concerned. At this moment, there is contaminated beef sitting in grocery stores and personal freezers across the country," said Krull. Gosh, isn't it funny how actual scientists seem to have a slightly different view of this than the National Cattlemen's Beef Alumni Association USDA?
UPDATE 1/13: Here's an alarming story, "Mad cow danger may even be bigger," which is basically a rewrite of Greger's piece from last week - but if it makes you feel better to hear it coming from a credentialed journalist, well, here you go.
UPDATE 1/18: New research indicates human form of mad cow more complex than first thought, canada.com declares, detailing the crusade of Dr. Laura Manuelidis, head of neuropathology at Yale University, to get the CDC to look at the possibility that BSE causes "classical" as well as "new variant" CJD.