Scientists working in the Gulf of Mexico have found that contaminants from the massive 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill lingered in the subsurface water for months after oil on the surface had been swept up or dispersed. In a new study, they also detailed how remnants of the oil, black carbon from burning oil slicks and contaminants from drilling mud combined with microscopic algae and other marine debris to descend in a "dirty blizzard" to the seafloor. LINK
A highly contagious and deadly animal brain disorder has been detected in Europe for the first time. Scientists are now warning that the single case found in a wild reindeer might represent an unrecognized, widespread infection.
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) was thought to be restricted to deer, elk (Cervus canadensis) and moose (Alces alces) in North America and South Korea, but on 4 April researchersannounced that the disease had been discovered in a free-ranging reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) in Norway. This is both the first time that CWD has been found in Europe and the first time that it has been found in this species in the wild anywhere in the world. LINK
Prions, the misfolded proteins that are known for causing degenerative illnesses in animals and humans, may have been spotted for the first time in plants.
Researchers led by Susan Lindquist, a biologist at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, report that they have found a section of protein in thale cress (Arabidopsis) that behaves like a prion when it is inserted into yeast. LINK
Various studies have shown that infectious prions can enter the environment through saliva, feces, urine, blood, or placenta from infected animals, as well as by decaying carcasses LINK
Because Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is so rare, any assay for the disease must have near-perfect specificity. A problem with both cycling assays is that PrPC converts into oligomers and fibrils in the absence of PrPSc. Additional work is needed to address this problem. Nevertheless it is possible that these assays could one day lead to earlier diagnosis and treatments, if the latter become available. LINK
The Pennsylvania Game Commission confiscated deer brains and other deer parts from a Lititz restaurant earlier this month, according to state inspectors.
[...]The brains, heads, muscle meat and other parts were taken after New China House's operator couldn't provide documentation the meat was from an approved source, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. While farm-raised venison may be sold legally, it’s illegal to sell game animals killed by hunters, according to officials.
The deer parts were thrown out, Logan Hall, a department spokesman, said Thursday. Inspectors returned for follow-up inspection the next day and found 14 more deficiencies. They included an unidentifiable pig organ on premise, which the operator's wife said was her lunch, according to the inspection report. It was discarded. LINKUrp.
According to researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston grass plants can bind, uptake and transport infectious prions. Why this is so important takes some understanding of what prions are.
Much smaller than bacteria, prions are single proteins that cannot be destroyed by typical “kill strategies” such as extreme heat or ultraviolet light.
“With prions, nothing like that works,” said Claudio Soto, Ph.D., a UTHealth researcher and lead author of an article about the topic published May 26, 2015, in Cell Reports.
Would you like your McBSE with fries?These protein-based infectious agents cause the characteristic spongy degeneration of the brain, leading to emaciation, abnormal behavior, loss of bodily functions, and death. As such, they are responsible for a group of fatal diseases referred to as transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). The group includes so-called “mad cow disease” (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE) in cattle, scrapie in sheep, and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, which, according to the World Health Organization, has been “strongly linked” to eating beef products contaminated with central nervous system tissue, such as spinal cord and brain, from cows infected with mad cow disease.LINK
There have now been seven cases of the fatal disease reported in Texas. LINK
According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the white-tailed deer came from a facility in Medina County south of San Antonio. It died early last month, and tested positive for the disease this week.
This is the first case of chronic wasting disease detected in a captive white-tailed deer in Texas, according to the department.
Chronic wasting disease is similar to mad cow disease, which eats away at the brain. LINK
The paper provides evidence in a laboratory experiment that some Classical scrapie isolates can propagate in humanised transgenic mice and produce prions that on second passage are similar to those causing one form of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD). LINK
Survey participants were asked about behaviors that could be associated with exposure to the agents causing BSE and CWD, including travel to the nine countries considered to be BSE-endemic (United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain) and the cumulative length of stay in each of those countries. Respondents were asked if they ever had hunted for deer or elk, and if that hunting had taken place in areas considered to be CWD-endemic (northeastern Colorado, southeastern Wyoming or southwestern Nebraska). They were also asked if they had ever consumed venison, the frequency of consumption, and whether the meat came from the wild. Eurekalert Link
Complying with a 2009 state law, the Oregon Board of Pharmacy last week moved marijuana out of the most-restricted category and down a notch on its list of controlled drugs. Oregon Live LinkI liked this comment:
Yeah! The side effects of Prescription Drugs can be devastating. At least with Medical Marijuana you don't have to worrifrumblwlsshhmblmbllalalazzzzzzzzmph...
Mad cow fear: JAPAN suspends beef from US plantTOKYO -- Japan has suspended beef shipments from an American meat-packing plant after finding cattle parts banned under an agreement to prevent the spread of mad cow disease, the agriculture ministry said Saturday. Japanese quarantine inspectors found bovine spinal columns in one of 732 boxes sent by Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc., which arrived in Japan last month, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said in a statement. The box contained 35 pounds (16 kilograms) of chilled short loin with spinal bones. CBS News Link
MONTANA: FDA approves camelina as cattle feed supplementCamelina is a plant from the mustard family that is grown for its high oil content and used mostly for the biofuels industry. Camelina has some noxious properties and can only be a small percentage of a cow's food. It's long term effects on cattle's health is not known.
BILLINGS, Mont. -- Camelina companies say federal officials have approved the use of meal from the biofuels crop as a 10 percent supplement in cattle feed — a development that could boost the prospects for Montana's fledgling camelina industry. ABC News Link
ALBERTA: Alta. cow tests positive for BSE: CFIA
Canada's 17th case of BSE was discovered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) last month but has only now been publicly announced. country-guide.ca Link
US to lift 21-year ban on haggis
Burns' night boost for famous Scottish dish that fell victim to BSE fears
Smuggled and bootlegged, it has been the cause of transatlantic tensions for more than two decades. But after 21 years in exile, the haggis is to be allowed back into the United States.
The "great chieftan o' the puddin-race" was one of earliest casualties of the BSE crisis of the 1980s-90s, banned on health grounds by the US authorities in 1989 because they feared its main ingredient ‑ minced sheep offal could prove lethal. Guardian.co.uk Link
Animal feed manufacturer violated regulations to prevent the spread of mad cow disease
An Idaho feed manufacturer received a warning letter, sent Feb.11, 2010, from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for violating federal regulations prohibiting animal proteins in ruminant feed to control the spread of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease. Eat, Drink, and Be Blog
