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Mad Cow Disease Shows Up in Canada
Aired May 20, 2003 - 14:12 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: There are reports of mad cow disease in Canada. Authorities say the country's first case in a decade has been confirmed in the western province of Alberta, in the northern part of that province.
Health authorities there say the diseased cow herd has been quarantined, and the cow that was diseased has been destroyed and did not get into the food chain. Still, the United States has temporarily banned all Canadian beef imports.
Here to talk about the disease and how it spreads is CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. It was a few years ago, that's all we were talking about was mad cow disease. Refresh us on what mad cow is all about, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Whatever happened to mad cow disease? Well, here's the basic information on mad cow disease. It's called BSE when it occurs in cows, and cows get it when they eat contaminated feed. Cows don't give it to each other, they get it only when they directly eat that feed, and so that's why there's concern about this herd, not because the cows will give it to each other, but because they might have all eaten the same feed.
It used to be in the United States and other countries that cows were given feed that contained body parts from other animals, such as sheep, and that -- it's believed that that's how cows in Great Britain got mad cow disease, because they ate feed that contained body parts from other animals. That doesn't happen anymore in the United States, and that is why they banned it, for that reason. Miles mentioned that this is the second cow. A cow in 1993 in Canada was found to have mad cow disease. That cow was imported from Great Britain. It's unclear now this -- the cow that they're talking about now, if that cow was imported from another country or if that cow was born in Canada or not.
Now, Miles, some 22 countries have had at least a cow or two that have had mad cow disease. These are counties as varied as Austria, Japan, Israel, 22 countries that have had cows that have had mad cow disease -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right, Elizabeth, let's talk a little bit about the herd for a moment. Presumably, all eating the same sort of feed from the same batches. What is the likelihood that a cow that didn't exhibit the symptoms somehow got through the net, if you will, and got into the food chain, and if so, what is the true risk to human beings? COHEN: Well, the Canadian authorities have said that this cow under question did not make it into the food chain, and they said that the rest of the herd will be depopulated, which is a nice way of saying they will also be -- that those cows will also be killed. So it seems like these cows from this herd will not get into the food chain. That seems to be a sure thing from what the Canadian health officials are saying.
Now, it is possible that a cow could be infected and not show symptoms, because there is an incubation period. But the Canadian health authorities are trying to do is cast a wide net within the herd that they know could have eaten the same feed as this cow that does have mad cow disease.
O'BRIEN: And, as I recall, mad cow is something -- and the reason it gets its name, it does attack the brain, and the disease which manifests itself in human beings is -- goes by another name, but has similar sort of pattern, doesn't it?
COHEN: That right -- that's right. It goes by another name, and it does have a similar pattern. People have the same neurological symptoms, and perhaps one of the scariest things about mad cow disease, whether it's in a cow or in a person, is that especially in people, it has a very long gestation period. So someone can eat contaminated beef and not show signs of the disease for five or 10 or 15 years, and that makes it very dangerous, because then when that person does get sick, you can't trace it back. You can't say, Oh, it was the hamburger that this person ate on this date. It makes it very, very difficult, and it also -- it's a very, very sad disease. I actually did a story with a woman here in the United States who contracted mad cow disease in England, and then came here to live and got sick when she got here, and it starts out with sort of forgetting things and seeming a little bit belligerent, and by the time we saw her, she was in bed. She could move around, and sort of grown, but unaware of what was going on around her. It was a very, very sad, sad illness.
O'BRIEN: And just quickly, so people have something to take away from this, what if anything should a consumer be doing right now about this?
COHEN: There's really nothing that a consumer can do right now. I mean, these cows are being killed that are in Canada. As you mentioned, the U.S. has temporarily restricted the importation of beef from Canada. There has not -- there has not been a single cow found in the United States with mad cow disease. In addition, the U.S. no longer feeds animals feed made with body parts of other animals. It also does not import animals from Europe where the disease started in the first place, so there's really nothing that you can do.
I know some people who are so upset about mad cow disease and so scared about getting it that they've decided not to eat beef at all, and that's certainly one way to avoid mad cow disease, but not something that most people have chosen to do. Most people don't see the risk as being nearly that high to warrant that kind of action. O'BRIEN: All right. Elizabeth Cohen from our medical unit. Thanks very much for shedding some light on all this, putting it in perspective for us.
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 20, 2003 - 14:12 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: There are reports of mad cow disease in Canada. Authorities say the country's first case in a decade has been confirmed in the western province of Alberta, in the northern part of that province.
Health authorities there say the diseased cow herd has been quarantined, and the cow that was diseased has been destroyed and did not get into the food chain. Still, the United States has temporarily banned all Canadian beef imports.
Here to talk about the disease and how it spreads is CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. It was a few years ago, that's all we were talking about was mad cow disease. Refresh us on what mad cow is all about, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Whatever happened to mad cow disease? Well, here's the basic information on mad cow disease. It's called BSE when it occurs in cows, and cows get it when they eat contaminated feed. Cows don't give it to each other, they get it only when they directly eat that feed, and so that's why there's concern about this herd, not because the cows will give it to each other, but because they might have all eaten the same feed.
It used to be in the United States and other countries that cows were given feed that contained body parts from other animals, such as sheep, and that -- it's believed that that's how cows in Great Britain got mad cow disease, because they ate feed that contained body parts from other animals. That doesn't happen anymore in the United States, and that is why they banned it, for that reason. Miles mentioned that this is the second cow. A cow in 1993 in Canada was found to have mad cow disease. That cow was imported from Great Britain. It's unclear now this -- the cow that they're talking about now, if that cow was imported from another country or if that cow was born in Canada or not.
Now, Miles, some 22 countries have had at least a cow or two that have had mad cow disease. These are counties as varied as Austria, Japan, Israel, 22 countries that have had cows that have had mad cow disease -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right, Elizabeth, let's talk a little bit about the herd for a moment. Presumably, all eating the same sort of feed from the same batches. What is the likelihood that a cow that didn't exhibit the symptoms somehow got through the net, if you will, and got into the food chain, and if so, what is the true risk to human beings? COHEN: Well, the Canadian authorities have said that this cow under question did not make it into the food chain, and they said that the rest of the herd will be depopulated, which is a nice way of saying they will also be -- that those cows will also be killed. So it seems like these cows from this herd will not get into the food chain. That seems to be a sure thing from what the Canadian health officials are saying.
Now, it is possible that a cow could be infected and not show symptoms, because there is an incubation period. But the Canadian health authorities are trying to do is cast a wide net within the herd that they know could have eaten the same feed as this cow that does have mad cow disease.
O'BRIEN: And, as I recall, mad cow is something -- and the reason it gets its name, it does attack the brain, and the disease which manifests itself in human beings is -- goes by another name, but has similar sort of pattern, doesn't it?
COHEN: That right -- that's right. It goes by another name, and it does have a similar pattern. People have the same neurological symptoms, and perhaps one of the scariest things about mad cow disease, whether it's in a cow or in a person, is that especially in people, it has a very long gestation period. So someone can eat contaminated beef and not show signs of the disease for five or 10 or 15 years, and that makes it very dangerous, because then when that person does get sick, you can't trace it back. You can't say, Oh, it was the hamburger that this person ate on this date. It makes it very, very difficult, and it also -- it's a very, very sad disease. I actually did a story with a woman here in the United States who contracted mad cow disease in England, and then came here to live and got sick when she got here, and it starts out with sort of forgetting things and seeming a little bit belligerent, and by the time we saw her, she was in bed. She could move around, and sort of grown, but unaware of what was going on around her. It was a very, very sad, sad illness.
O'BRIEN: And just quickly, so people have something to take away from this, what if anything should a consumer be doing right now about this?
COHEN: There's really nothing that a consumer can do right now. I mean, these cows are being killed that are in Canada. As you mentioned, the U.S. has temporarily restricted the importation of beef from Canada. There has not -- there has not been a single cow found in the United States with mad cow disease. In addition, the U.S. no longer feeds animals feed made with body parts of other animals. It also does not import animals from Europe where the disease started in the first place, so there's really nothing that you can do.
I know some people who are so upset about mad cow disease and so scared about getting it that they've decided not to eat beef at all, and that's certainly one way to avoid mad cow disease, but not something that most people have chosen to do. Most people don't see the risk as being nearly that high to warrant that kind of action. O'BRIEN: All right. Elizabeth Cohen from our medical unit. Thanks very much for shedding some light on all this, putting it in perspective for us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
