Author: David A. Harris
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3662084414
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 236
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Book Description
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has become the most publicly recognizable example of a group of fatal neurodegenerative diseases caused by proteinaceous infectious particles called prions. The contributors to this volume, all internationally recognized experts in their fields, provide an introduction to prion biology, followed by reviews of the latest information on BSE, vCJD, and chronic wasting disease, an animal prion disease that has recently emerged in North America.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
On December 23, 2003, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture announced that a cow in Washington state had tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or Mad Cow disease), representing the first domestic case. The Secretary announced expanded protections against BSE on December 30, 2003. On January 26, 2004, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services announced additional safety measures for products regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to protect public health. Both have stressed that the human health impact of finding one BSE positive cow is believed to be minimal. BSE is a member of a group of diseases called Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs). Although the predominant theory is that TSEs are caused by prions or proteinaceous infectious particles (a novel disease mechanism first described in the 1980s), some scientists believe a virus may eventually be identified as the infectious agent. While some TSEs, such as scrapie in sheep, have been known for over 200 years, others, including BSE, appear to have emerged quite recently. Some TSEs seem to affect only one species and others, like BSE, appear to have jumped the "species barrier" to infect more than one species. This event has transformed prion diseases from a rare and esoteric area of research to a matter of significant public health concern. BSE is believed to have been transmitted to people who ate contaminated beef, leading to the identification in 1996 of a new human disease, variant Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (vCJD), in the United Kingdom. As attention has focused on the finding of BSE in the United States, government control efforts have been scrutinized. Some have argued that prevention programs, begun in 1988 and strengthened at points since then, are robust, and that the finding of a BSE-positive cow represents an isolated case and a negligible health risk to humans. Others believe that shortfalls in government prevention efforts are serious, and that BSE may be entrenched in the United States, albeit at low levels. The spectrum of opinions about the public health risk from BSE underscores the myriad uncertainties surrounding prion diseases, and especially their modes of transmission, and detection. This report examines known and purported human health risks from BSE and related diseases, the status of efforts to detect and prevent these diseases in humans, and the scientific basis of these efforts. For a discussion of BSE prevention efforts in the agricultural sector (including FDA measures to assure the safety of animal feed, and USDA measures to assure the safety of beef), refer to CRS Issue Brief IB10127, Mad Cow Disease: Agricultural Issues for Congress, by Geoffrey S. Becker, and CRS Report RL32199, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, or 'Mad Cow Disease'): Current and Proposed Safeguards, by Sarah A. Lister and Geoffrey S. Becker. This report will be updated as circumstances warrant.
Author:
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0444640770
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 480
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Book Description
Neurogenetics, Part II, Volume 148, the latest release in the Handbook of Clinical Neurology, provides the latest information on the genetic methodologies that are having a significant impact on the study of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Using genetic science, researchers have identified over 200 genes that cause or contribute to neurological disorders. Still an evolving field of study, defining the relationship between genes and neurological and psychiatric disorders is expected to dramatically grow in scope. Part II builds on the foundation of Part I, expanding the coverage to dementias, paroxysmal disorders, neuromuscular disorders, white matter and demyelination diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, adult psychiatric disorders and cancer and phacomatoses. Contains comprehensive coverage of neurogenetics Details the latest science and its impact on our understanding of neurological, psychiatric disorders Presents a focused reference for clinical practitioners and the neuroscience/neurogenetics research community
Author: Brian K. Nunnally
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 9780203912973
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 456
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Book Description
The alarm sounded by Canada's confirmed case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has reaffirmed the exigency of establishing improved safeguards and more aggressive surveillance protocols in North America and around the world. Research converging on the probable causative agent--prion proteins--calls for intensive assessment of the headway gained in tracing prions, testing for transmissible neurodegenerative diseases, and developing methods for cornering the epidemic. With an illustrious panel of 36 international contributors, this timely book marshals techniques for prion protein assay and diagnosis of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs).
Author: European Commission. Directorate General for Research
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Languages : en
Pages : 58
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Book Description
This booklet highlights the research response of the European Commission to the spectrum of diseases known as the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs), which include BSE (primarily a disease of cattle), scrapie in sheep and goats (small ruminants) and variant and classical or sporadic CJD in man. It also provides information on three of the larger research programmes carried out in Member States of the European Union. The booklet focuses on key projects funded by the Directorate-General for Research from the mid 1990s to the present day, and in doing so, aims to give an overview of the important work carried out in the past, as well as of current research priorities.
Author: Charlotte A. Spencer
Publisher: Prentice Hall
ISBN: 9780131423398
Category : Beef cattle
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Part of the Prentice Hall Exploring Biology Series, Mad Cows and Cannibals explores the biological, political and social aspects of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, including Mad Cow Disease and Chronic Wasting Disease. The text 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. In clear and accessible language, it explains the biology of these bizzare, degenerative brain diseases, answering important questions about how TSEs affect the safety of our food supply, blood supply, and medical procedures.
Author: Philip Yam
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 038721755X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 290
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Book Description
Prions are an entirely new class of pathogens, and scientists are just beginning to understand them. Although they have plagued humans and animals for 3 centuries, only in the last 2 decades have researchers linked them to diseases like Mad Cow. This book tells the strange story of their discovery, and the medical controversies that swirl around them. The author, Philip Yam, is a well-respected and connected journalist who is now an editor at Scientific American.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
Author: Scott Ratzan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135359954
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 262
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Book Description
The announcement that BOSER might cause a fatal human disease "Creutzfeldt- Jacob disease CJD" triggered enormous media attention, public alarm and government wrangling that threatened the future of European integration.; As Scott Ratzan argues: "It is my belief that the [BOSER crisis] represents a quintessential case that will go down in history as the Exxon Valdez Union Carbide's Bhopal accident, and other such cases of interdisciplinary study".; This book offers lessons learned from the crisis, with contributions from experts with different viewpoints - veterinarians, Eurocrats, public relations experts, politicians, policy- makers, journalists and representatives of the beef industry.; It also offers a compilation of the key reports from governmental bodies. as a case-study in policy-making, scientific/health discovery and dissemination of information, as well as looking at the issues from the perspective of psychology and media studies.
Author:
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1428945202
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 63
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Book Description
