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CNN Live At Daybreak

Infected Cow Discovered in Canada

Aired May 21, 2003 - 06:51   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We've been talking about mad cow disease this morning. A cow infected with the disease has been discovered in Canada. It is the first in North America in a decade and to be on the safe side, U.S. officials have banned all beef imports from Canada.
Dr. Sandra Fryhoffer is here with more.

And I don't think many Americans realize how much beef the United States imports from Canada. And it's used to make things like Wendy's hamburgers, McDonald's' hamburgers.

So, first of all, explain to us what mad cow disease is.

DR. SANDRA FRYHOFFER, INTERNIST MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, mad cow disease is a degenerative chronic disease that affects the nervous system of cattle. The scientific name is Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, otherwise known as BSE.

Now, it first occurred in Britain back in 1986 and was thought to spread through contaminated cow feed. It's not clear exactly what causes it, but they think it's caused by exposure to a cell protein called a prion protein. The concern is that there is strong evidence linking mad cow disease with the rare human form of a disease called Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and in humans, this causes a fatal brain disorder. And this is thought to occur after eating cattle products that are contaminated with this prion protein.

There are also theoretical concerns about possible transmission through blood transfusions and for this reason the Red Cross will not accept blood donations from anyone who's spent at least three months in the United Kingdom or other certain eastern countries since 1980. There's never been a case transmitted person to person, however.

COSTELLO: So if you happen to eat some beef that's been infected by mad cow disease, you may get sick?

FRYHOFFER: Well, there's a fairly long incubation period. But the symptoms include psychiatric symptoms like anxiety, depression, social withdrawal, painful sensory symptoms and then later other neurological abnormalities, including slurred speech, tremor, problems with walking and finally dementia.

There's no known treatment and usually people die of it at an unusually young age. The median age of death in patients in the United Kingdom is 28 years old. And back in 1997, both the United States and Canada banned feeding mammalian meat and bone meal to cattle, sheep and goats. The problem is that because this disease has a long incubation period, anywhere from two to eight years, this cow could have actually been infected before this ban took place.

COSTELLO: And we should tell viewers so, you know, we don't throw a scare into many people, that it's just one cow.

FRYHOFFER: One cow.

COSTELLO: And we understand that its meat didn't get into the food chain.

FRYHOFFER: They're very clear about that. This is the first episode of a Canadian cow, a cow having mad cow in 10 years. This is the second cow ever to be infected. And they're very clear that it did not get into the food supply. They realized the cow was sick. They put it in a different place. They did slaughter the cow and test it, tested it, and now we know that that test is positive.

COSTELLO: And just to be safe, the United States has banned all imports from Canada.

FRYHOFFER: Exactly.

COSTELLO: OK.

Thank you very much for joining us this morning.

FRYHOFFER: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: We appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired May 21, 2003 - 06:51   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We've been talking about mad cow disease this morning. A cow infected with the disease has been discovered in Canada. It is the first in North America in a decade and to be on the safe side, U.S. officials have banned all beef imports from Canada.
Dr. Sandra Fryhoffer is here with more.

And I don't think many Americans realize how much beef the United States imports from Canada. And it's used to make things like Wendy's hamburgers, McDonald's' hamburgers.

So, first of all, explain to us what mad cow disease is.

DR. SANDRA FRYHOFFER, INTERNIST MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, mad cow disease is a degenerative chronic disease that affects the nervous system of cattle. The scientific name is Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, otherwise known as BSE.

Now, it first occurred in Britain back in 1986 and was thought to spread through contaminated cow feed. It's not clear exactly what causes it, but they think it's caused by exposure to a cell protein called a prion protein. The concern is that there is strong evidence linking mad cow disease with the rare human form of a disease called Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and in humans, this causes a fatal brain disorder. And this is thought to occur after eating cattle products that are contaminated with this prion protein.

There are also theoretical concerns about possible transmission through blood transfusions and for this reason the Red Cross will not accept blood donations from anyone who's spent at least three months in the United Kingdom or other certain eastern countries since 1980. There's never been a case transmitted person to person, however.

COSTELLO: So if you happen to eat some beef that's been infected by mad cow disease, you may get sick?

FRYHOFFER: Well, there's a fairly long incubation period. But the symptoms include psychiatric symptoms like anxiety, depression, social withdrawal, painful sensory symptoms and then later other neurological abnormalities, including slurred speech, tremor, problems with walking and finally dementia.

There's no known treatment and usually people die of it at an unusually young age. The median age of death in patients in the United Kingdom is 28 years old. And back in 1997, both the United States and Canada banned feeding mammalian meat and bone meal to cattle, sheep and goats. The problem is that because this disease has a long incubation period, anywhere from two to eight years, this cow could have actually been infected before this ban took place.

COSTELLO: And we should tell viewers so, you know, we don't throw a scare into many people, that it's just one cow.

FRYHOFFER: One cow.

COSTELLO: And we understand that its meat didn't get into the food chain.

FRYHOFFER: They're very clear about that. This is the first episode of a Canadian cow, a cow having mad cow in 10 years. This is the second cow ever to be infected. And they're very clear that it did not get into the food supply. They realized the cow was sick. They put it in a different place. They did slaughter the cow and test it, tested it, and now we know that that test is positive.

COSTELLO: And just to be safe, the United States has banned all imports from Canada.

FRYHOFFER: Exactly.

COSTELLO: OK.

Thank you very much for joining us this morning.

FRYHOFFER: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: We appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com