GIVE ME A BREAK!!!

[Lemon[H]ead]

title edited by surreal

Chronic wasting disease, a cousin of BSE, is spreading through deer in the US. Could it be a threat to cattle - or even humans?

COME ON! First there's the Bovine Spongified Encephalopathy\creutzfeldt jakob desease, of cows\brits in the UK. THEN there's Foot & Mouth, wiping out most of the cows in the UK...

NOW THIS

I love steak, beef, stew etc. But I during the BSE crisis i could survive without it due to venison (deer). now that deer have some crazy disease, how the heck am i supposed to eat!

I mean come one, like in braveheart i was like "they can take our STEAK...but they can never take.. OUR VENISON!!!" but sadly "they" have, and now I have nothing perfectly pure and safe to eat. I love venison steak, venison burgers and gamekeepers pie (venison, pheasant etc in a pie!!! BEAUTIFUL!).

how will i cope!

[ben-the-slacker]

You can always go vegitarian.

[Redwolf]

Buy US meat Still good here. I mean I'm not dead yet.

[Mickwish]

Australian beef is the cleanest and purest, by far.

Australian venison should be fine, too.

Not so sure about Australian lamb, though....

Actually this is a potential matter of concern. Too little is known about prion diseases and the potential effects of them. Sheep have had a prion disease for centuries (scrapie) which has never been shown to manifest in any disease in humans that we yet know of. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if we find a link with scrapie and, say, multiple sclerosis, or something.

Prion disease links are tenous to say the best, though. The evidence for BSE causing vCJD in humans is still mainly circumstantial, and the mode of transmission (if any) is still unclear. Many theories have been suggested, none really proven by Koch's postulates yet.

My suggestions? Life is a bit of a lottery. If you listen to all the doomsayers, you wan't eat or drink anything! So, as long as you avoid obviously sick and diseased animals, and make sure you cook meat well, the risk should be low. Avoid spinal tissue and brains in any animals, IMO, as these would be highest for prions if they are in any way harmful.

Oh, and if you eat brains and drink lots of alcohol, that is probably bad too, as alcohol may increase the infectivity of prions, according to some theories. Sorry, Lemon. Sounds like you are in trouble, then.



Cheers
Mick

[Lemon[H]ead]

I want clean UK meat that is...um fresh (i mean i buy it days after the slaughter.)

I just cannot stand it, i only get venison rarely as it is so expensive and I only visit my uncle's estate rarely. so feasting upon the soft flesh of venison is an absolute privaldge for me...and now if there's any deer imported from the US, they may carry this shizzle.

I just want some red meat marinaded in red wine sauce and cooked on a barbecue... is that oo much to ask! lol

[Mickwish]

From what I understand, this deer disease is already spreading throughout the world, not just in the US. I doubt British vebnison is free from it. I doubt even Australian venison is truly free from it.

Trade of deer has been much less regulated than trade of cattle, up until recently. So in all likelihood this disease has spread wherever deer have been traded. And it is possible this disease has been in deer for many decades (it has in elk, I think) and not been widely recognised.

Make sure it's very well done on the barbie, Lemon.

Cheers
Mick

[Warthog]

Go hunting for venison , then it's pretty friggin' cheap...oh wait, u're in the UK, that's right

Dude, come to VT or hell, any backwoods state and you can get venison dirt cheap...tons of people giving it away around hunting season.

Warthog

[Lemon[H]ead]

Apologies to surreal for needing to amend the title

but yeah you get the idea. Wart i'll come hunting with you. I suck, but hey sounds good. Also i suck with preparing the meat. But give me the steak and i'll throw together a nice marinade for it

or just barbecue the mofof!

[Creatures]

creutzfeldt jakob? to be honest how many people died of this? not much yet and it doesnt look like more will come!

BTW swiss meat is perfect our cows can walk around in the alps, isnt this great

Creatures

[Warthog]

Aren't your cows the really shaggy kind? ie have a lot of hair