NR ASAM
AU anonym
TI Farmer Dies of Mad Cow Disease
QU Internet
IA http://envirolink.org/arrs/news/mad_farmer.html
PT Internet-Diskussionsbeitrag
VT
LONDON (AP) - A third British dairy farmer has died of the human form of a virulent cattle disease, raising concern about a possible connection to the "mad cow" malady that has swept British herds.
But scientists say they have no proof that the farmer contracted Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human form of the cattle disease, from farm animals.
The 54-year-old man worked on a farm where three cows died of mad cow disease, according to a letter published in this week's edition of The Lancet, a medical journal.
"I think that it's obviously a matter of concern if there is a third case in a farmer," said Dr. Robert Will, a neuroscientist at Western General Hospital in Edinburgh.
The other two farmers died within the past five years.
Will contributed to a second letter in The Lancet that reported the incidence of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in Britain is similar to other countries that have not suffered the cattle disease.
"It isn't particularly worrying," said Dr. John Collinge, an expert on Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and professor of neurogenetics at St. Mary's Hospital.
"We do know these diseases can jump species, so (catching the disease from cows) remains a small theoretical risk," Collinge said.
The mad cow disease epidemic, which peaked in 1989, sparked fears that those who ate beef or worked closely with cattle could catch a fatal brain disease.
At the time, beef sales plummeted 20 percent and some schools stopped serving hamburgers.
Since then, fears have waned and Britons are, once again, buying just as much beef as they did before the scare, according to the Meat and Livestock Commission, an industry-funded agency.
The survey reported by Will found no other cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease among other workers exposed to mad cows, such as veterinarians or butchers.
It also said British farmers are no more likely to get the disease than farmers in other European countries who have not dealt with sick cows.
Both the human and cow diseases are called spongiform encephalopathies because they cause sponge-like holes in the brain.
Creutzfeld-Jakob disease strikes about one in a million people each year. No one knows what causes the disease or whether the same agent triggers both the human and animal forms.
Afflicted cows stagger and drool. Humans suffer mental deterioration, slurred speech and difficulty walking that gets progressively worse until they die.
Since 1986, 153,215 cattle have been destroyed in Britain after showing symptoms of the disease.
Still, British beef imports have been banned in 23 nations.
AD DHARMALCL@aol.com
PO Internet
OR Prion-Krankheiten 9