jsac's Journal: Spongiform encephalopathies are here to stay

State officials are raising an alert about the possibility of the spread of mad elk disease outside of Colorado (where it is common in the wild) to the rest of the nation.

State officials here fear that some elk that may be infected with a fatal illness were sold to private ranches in as many as 15 states and could spread the disease to the wild elk and deer throughout the nation.

The fact of the matter is that some sort of encephalopathy is waiting to happen in the U.S. -- meat industry practices assure it. We can only hope that it will be a visible and diagnosable one like Mad Cow disease, rather than a quiet one that isn't obviously a neuropathy. For more information -- enough to turn you vegetarian, if you're sensible -- read Mad Cow U.S.A.: Could the Nightmare Happen Here? by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber.