Product Description
This book provides a comprehensive summary of the current status of information on the agents of scrapie, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy and related diseases. Topics covered include current concepts of the nature of the agent, possible genetic variability of the agent, the role of the prion protein gene and linked genes in influencing disease susceptibility and species tropism, biochemical, electron microscopic and molecular biological analyses of proteins and nucleic acids in infected tissues, in vitro approaches to study of the transmissible agents, epidemiological studies of bovine and human spongiform encephalopathies. Topics are presented as a series of review papers prepared by experts in the field. Readers will find here, in a single volume, the most current series of chapters covering many aspects of the field. ... Read more

Product Description
Mad Cows and Cannibals guides readers through the complex world of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs)—bizarre, degenerative brain diseases that affect both animals and humans. In clear and accessible language, it provides basic explanations of the science and issues surrounding Mad Cow Disease and related conditions.It begins with stories of ritualistic cannibalism in the highlands of New Guinea, and leads to the modern agricultural feeding practices that triggered the Mad Cow Disease epidemic in Great Britain, and to recent outbreaks of Chronic Wasting Disease in North America. It explains the biology of TSEs and explores how political and social actions can contribute to their spread, answering important questions about how TSEs affect the safety of our food supply, blood supply, and medical procedures.This book will be of interest to the general public and the media, as it provides basic explanations of the science and issues surrounding TSEs. Also useful as a reference work for those in health care, medical-legal professions, and genetics industry. ... Read more

Product Description
Recommends possible strategies to prevent bovine spongiform encephalopathy from spreading. Considers cyclic amplification of scrapie prion protein and its implications for diagnosis, as well as the sensitive detection of prion proteins by immunoassay. Discusses prion detection techniques and their application to ensure the safety of biological products. ... Read more

Product Description
This study explores the reasons behind the different responses of the legal systems of Europe, Japan and the USA in coping BSE, one of the major food safety crises in recent years. Making reference to the most recent advances on risk perception that cognitive and social sciences, such as legal anthropology and sociology of law, have experimented with, "Risk Perception, Culture, and Legal Change" examines the role that culture plays in moulding the process of legal change. Attention is focused on the regulative frameworks implemented to guarantee the safety of the food chain against the BSE menace and on the liability responses sketched to compensate the victims of mad cow disease, showing how both these elements have been influenced by the cultural context within which they are situated. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from E, published by Earth Action Network, Inc. on July 1, 1999. The length of the article is 1164 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Brain Drain.(mad cow disease)
Author: Kathleen O'Neil
Publication: E (Magazine/Journal)
Date: July 1, 1999
Publisher: Earth Action Network, Inc.
Volume: 10Issue: 4Page: 25

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or "mad cow disease," first diagnosed in late 1986, is transmitted through feed, indirect horizontal transmission, apparently maternally and possibly horizontally, through cattle-to-cattle contact or a contaminated environment. With no ante-mortem test yet developed, the only information available about BSE is from case surveillance and a limited number of experiments. Only through careful and rigorous modeling and analysis can reliable estimates of past infection and predictions of future cases be made. The modeling developed for BSE utilizes a range of techniques from statistics, ecology, and demography that is of interest both as a case study and for providing tools for other modeling projects. Statistical Aspects of BSE and vCJD: Models for Epidemics presents the general methodology required for thorough analysis and modeling of novel long incubation diseases with largely unknown etiology. BSE in British cattle is the primary example system presented, but application to other diseases, particularly the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (e.g., Scrapie in sheep and nvCJD in humans) are also highlighted. The book concentrates on presenting an exposition of the "state-of-the-art" rather than introductory material on the mathematical/statistical modeling of infectious diseases. ... Read more

Product Description
This new book provides a riveting account of how BSE changed from an obscure disease in a handful of dairy cows into the worst failure of UK public policy sinse the Suez Crisis of 1956. BSE has subsequently spread to 30 other countries so the market for this book is not just British but international. The authors not only explain what happened, they also develop a compelling account of why it happned and of what changes need to be made if similar risk policy failures are to be avoided in the future. This book will become a key text in debates about the future of public policy-making about technological risks. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description

In the spring of 1996, when numerous reports of bovine spongioform encephalopathy, popularly known as "mad cow disease," coincided with an outbreak of a similar neuropathological disease in humans, a panic spread across Britain, Europe, and subsequently to the United States. Described as "the biggest crisis the European Union ever had," the mad cow controversy raised important issues about the ways in which risks to the public heath are assessed, disseminated, and controlled. Was the "epidemic" merely a failure of management, the lessons of which could be incorporated into a new strategy for dealing with public anxiety? Was it an isolated case of poor decision-making in a highly volatile economic sector, or was it the kind of nightmare that could face any government responsible for public safety? And what role did the media play in exacerbating an already spiraling crisis?

Customer Reviews (3)

This book is not for everyone...
While this book is not for everyone, I would recommend it for researchers who want more objective information on the British BSE situation. It was written before a confirmed case of the disease was found in the U.S., but still provides valuable background on the European development of the issue. The two chapters providing a content analysis of both the British and American media's framing of the disease were particularly helpful.

Save Your Money
If you want to buy a book about mad cow diseases, check out Deadly Feasts or Mad Cow USA.This book edited by Ratzan is a disappointing hodge podge, disjointed and not interesting.

I wasted my money
Many of the references were incorrect. Especially, the chapters on the scientific perspectives of BSE. ... Read more

Product Description
The BSE or "mad cow disease" crisis is regarded by many as an example of the failure of officials and politicians to handle risk situations. Yet, BSE is also characterized by a unique trait, that is, the infectious agent that causes it. Thus far, no one has paid attention to the fact that BSE and other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are allegedly caused by a novel agent--a prion--distinct from all other known infectious agents such as bacteria and viruses. The prion hypothesis was introduced by the American scientist Stanley Prusiner in 1982. It immediately created a controversy among scientists and is still rejected by some. Yet, despite this lack of consensus in the scientific community, Prusiner was awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1997. This book analyzes the introduction, reception, development and consequences of the prion hypothesis. It shows that BSE is a unique case not only in virtue of its political mismanagement but also because its infectious agent has created a form of revolution in biology.
... Read more

Product Description
Mad Cow Disease - the very mention touched off newspaper headlines and sent a scare throughout Canada and the United States, effectively closing the longest undefended border in the world.In this careful examination of the science and fears that closed the U.S. border to Canadian beef, a Canadian scientist presents an unwavering condemnation of the politicians and special interest groups fighting to keep the border closed.Timely, and at times explosive, Dr. Wooding's cattle Crisis is a call for sanity in a trade dispute in which consumers are the ultimate losers on both sides of the Canada - U.S. border.Ironically, the author points out, while this border closure has kept American beef prices high, delighting the ranchers, these same high prices are hurting both consumers and meat packers alike, raising speculation as to how long this situation will be tolerated by the American public.With trade backlogs already closing U.S. slaughter and processing plants, Canada's cattle population growing to record levels, and our international beef trade stifled by nervousness surrounding a much misunderstood disease, losses in both countries are reaching into the hundreds of millions, in fact billions, of dollars.On top of these revelations, Dr. Wooding details how the sudden onset of this crisis exposed glaring weaknesses in the Canadian beef and meat packing industries, which have caused the government, the meat packers and the cattle lobby to scramble for solutions. ... Read more

Product Description
A comprehensive understanding of the biology of prion diseases is crucial for risk assessment as regards both humans and animals. To further the communication of the current knowledge and the exchange of diagnostic technologies in the scientific community, a symposium on the "Characterization and Diagnosis of Prion Diseases" was held in September 1999 in Tübingen, Germany. The overwhelming interest and the participation of more than 500 scientists from 26 countries made this symposium the largest meeting ever held in the field. In this book twenty-six invited speakers comprehensively present their data on the pathogenesis of prion diseases in humans and animals, on molecular mechanisms involved in the transmissibility across species barriers, on animal and in-vitro models currently available for the detection and quantification of infectivity and on the characterization of prion strains. This selection attempts to reflect the current state of the art, but cannot possibly represent the whole spectrum of research in the prion field. ... Read more