Mad Cow Case Confirmed in Japan, page 1

Japanese officials confirmed yesterday that a 51-year-old man died last year from a form of 'Mad Cow' disease called variant Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (vCJD). The man began showing irritation and other mental symptoms in December of 2001. He was diagnosed one year later, and became demented before dying in December of 2004. Japan is saying the man contracted vCJD in Britain. Media coverage of 'Mad Cow' and other prion diseases was 'discouraged' and then censored in 2002, but reports are once again appearing in the news.

mdn.mainichi.co.jp
A 51-year-old man died last year from a variant of Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (CJD), the first such case in Japan, officials said on Friday. ...The variant of CJD is caused by an abnormal sort of cow prion, a kind of protein and a major source of mad cow disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

A total of 157 people from around the world have been confirmed to have contracted the CJD variant as of June last year. ...Of them, 147 were confirmed to have caught CJD in Britain, while other cases were found in France, Italy, Ireland, Canada, and the United States. Four of the 10 others had visited Britain, sources said.

One of the officials said that the man had probably been infected with CDJ during his stay in Britain although he has never received a blood transfusion. ...He began showing mental symptoms such as irritation in December 2001 and was diagnosed as suffering from CJD one year later. ...He fell into a state of dementia before dying in December, officials said.

CJD cases caused by infection through operations, heredity and other unknown reasons have also been confirmed in Japan. ...A total of 14 cows have been confirmed infected with BSE in Japan. (Mainichi and wire reports, Japan, Feb. 4, 2005)

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'Mad Cow' and other prion diseases are a world wide problem, but particularly in the USA. Prion diseases are caused by infectious proteins and come in many different strains. Just 4-6 strains are recognized officially, and only in the later stages when the brain is directly infected.

Many scientists believe "subclinical" prion infections are common, and underlie epidemic rising rates of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and various chronic disabilities. This information has been censored systematically to prevent people learning about the extent and nature of the diseases, presumably to 'prevent panic.'

The 'Mad Cow' censorship leaves ordinary people ignorant, and unprepared to deal with the predictable consequences - high medical bills, early physical or mental disabilities and often, bankruptcy.

Medical bills spark 46% of U.S. personal bankruptcies

Here is a basic "Prion Primer," with easy-to-read articles written between 1999 and 2004.

Mad Cows, Sane Cats: Making Sense of the 'Species Barrier'

New Finding May Identify Unknown Agents of Mad-Cow Disease

"Promiscuous Prion" Yields Clues To Infection Across Species Barriers

1999-UCSB Physicist Devises Way To Observe Protein Folding

2000-Deadly To Cattle And Humans, Prions May Help Other Organisms Survive

2003-Tipping The Balance of Prion Infectivity

2004-Physicists Study Mad Cow-type Diseases

2004-Don't Underestimate This Public Health Enemy: 'Prion Pathology'

Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
SCI/TECH: "Mad Cow" Spreading in Deer and Elk
SCI/TECH: "Mad Cow" Disease Uses Immune System to Spread in Body
OP/ED: The Final Solution
NEWS: Mad Cow Disease Is Found In Goat

[edit on 2/5/05 by FredT]

[edit on 5-2-2005 by soficrow]