Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease IS a "Prion" Disease, but it appears to be "Familial" in Character rather than a strictly TRANSMISSABLE Prion Disease like "Kuru," or "Scrapie," or "BSE" ...

Apr 28, 2012 -- 11:27PM, christzen wrote:

vCJD is most certainly related to BSE. 

www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/vcjd/factsheet_nvcjd.htm

Hence my general Advice to AVOID eating "Brains" from ANY Species ...

The Medical Concensus has been that Prion Diseases do NOT jump the Species Barrier, but I tend to favor great CAUTION about that, especially given the long Latency Period, ca. 10 to 15 Years ...

I take these Concerns PERSONALLY seriously, BTW, as a good Friend of mine died from a Prion Disease a couple Years ago ... So DON'T Lecture ME ...

Ummm ... Your Information about Transmission of Creutzfeld-Jacob Disease is ... "suspect" ...

Apr 29, 2012 -- 12:51AM, christzen wrote:

As for not jumping species, vCJD is caused by eating cows, which in turn appear to have gotten the disease from sheep.  And there are reported cases of vCJD being passed human to human through blood transfusions.  I would call sheep to cow to human with then human to human transmission species jumping.

Again ... I have close personal Friend who died from a Prion Disease a couple of Years ago, and as a young Biology Student back in the late 1960s I had already heard of "Scrapie" ... So I HAVE "kept up" for several Reasons of my own ...

There is (as yet)  NO  EVIDENCE   that Transmissable Prion Diseases are caught by eating a Beef Steak or a Hamburger ...  As I HAVE indicated (repeatedly, below), however, I think that "Brains" of ANY Species are to be avoided ...

Apr 29, 2012 -- 10:40AM, christzen wrote:

Ummm....MY  info comes from the CDC,as linked for you to have read and learned.If you think you are a more reliable and knowledgeable source on vCJD than the Center for Disease Control,then please state why,with proof.Until then,your opinion is what is suspect,not the scientists charged with studying the disease as part of the public health defense against it.

As I have also indicated (below) I do NOT necessarily believe that Prion Diseases honor the Species Barrier ...

So ... AGAIN ... I advise against eating Brains of ANY Species -- just in Case ...

BTW ... A VERY interesting Finding announced just last Year: even though "Prions" (which are ENTIRELY "Protein") contain NO DNA or RNA, they "evolve" ... !!!

Apr 29, 2012 -- 1:38PM, christzen wrote:

Apr 29, 2012 -- 12:36PM, teilhard wrote:

There is (as yet)  NO  EVIDENCE   that Transmissable Prion Diseases are caught by eating a Beef Steak or a Hamburger ...  As I HAVE indicated (repeatedly, below), however, I think that "Brains" of ANY Species are to be avoided ...

I eat beef,so I am not arguing against steak or hamburgers,but the issue is whether vCJD is related to BSE,not whether eating a hamburger causes vCJD.

From the WHO.  That would be the World Health Organization.

• The consumption of food of bovine origin contaminated with the agent of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), a disease of cattle, has been strongly linked to the occurrence of vCJD in humans.