VANCAMPE at UWYO.EDU wrote:
: Dear Anyone: I've heard a rumor through the grapevine that 3 cases of
: spongiform encephalopathy have been diagnosed in young (teenage) humans in the
: U.K. There is some mention of possible links to the ingestion of unpasteurized
: milk and bovine brains by two of these patients. The report is supposed to be
: in Lancet. Anyone have a reference or can confirm? Thank you in advance, Hana
I haven't read any articles about it but it would make sense if you
consider the outbreak of "mad cow disease" in the U.K. during the
mid-1980's when up to 130,000 head of cattle had to be destroyed because
they had become infected with prions from sheep mulch.
Spongiform encephalopathies have very long incubation periods, 5 to 8
years, so there was and still is speculation over whether a species leap
could take place between cows and humans (as it did between sheep and cows).
Don't know if any of this info. helps.
Matt Wettlaufer
