Scott Allan’s World

80,000 people protested in Seoul, South Korea over the lifting of the U.S. beef ban. There has been an hysterical and irrational fear of mad cow disease.

According to the CDC, there have only been 3 cases of mad cow ever in the United States and none since early 2006. From what I can tell, not a single person ever contracted mad cow disease from these cows. This is hardly an epidemic like there was in Europe and there is no reason why the Seoul Cabinet should have offered to resign over this decision. Simply tell your citizens they are behaving irrationally and go take some valium.  Or don’t buy the beef and with supplies up and demand down, that means better prices and more cheeseburgers for me.  

BSE Cases Identified in the U.S.
There have been 3 cases of BSE identified in the United States. The following information provides descriptions of these three cases:

The first known case of BSE in the United States was identified in December 2003. On December 23, 2003, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a presumptive diagnosis of BSE in an adult Holstein cow from Washington State. This diagnosis was confirmed by an international reference laboratory in Weybridge, England, on December 25. Preliminary trace-back based on an ear-tag identification number suggested that the BSE-infected cow was imported into the United States from Canada in August 2001. The preliminary trace-back identification of the animal was later confirmed by genetic testing.

On June 24, 2005, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced receipt of final results from The Veterinary Laboratories Agency in Weybridge, England, confirming BSE in a cow that had conflicting test results in 2004. This cow was from Texas and represented the first endemic case of BSE in the United States.

On March 13, 2006, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the confirmation of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a cow in Alabama. The newly confirmed case was identified in a non-ambulatory (downer) cow on a farm in Alabama. The animal was euthanized by a local veterinarian and buried on the farm. The age of the cow was estimated by examination of the dentition as 10-years-old. It had no ear tags or distinctive marks; the herd of origin could not be identified despite an intense investigation (see Alabama BSE Investigation, Final Epidemiology Report, May 2006 [PDF – 105 KB]).

It’s apparent they haven’t eaten our tomatoes yet or they’d all be home with diarrhea instead.