Keeping beef on the menu-Testing for mad cow disease
Level - UndergradFirst, there are feelings of anxiety and depression. A wobbly gait and an uncertain grip soon develop. Within a few months come memory loss, confusion, an inability to recognize familiar faces. Body and mind deteriorate until death occurs. From the symptoms, one might conclude Alzheimer's disease—except that the illness completes its job in about a year, and patients are on average 29 years old. Only an autopsy will reveal, from the spongy mess that was the brain, that the patient died of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)—the human form of the dread mad cow disease.
This nation's first case of mad cow disease has led to urgent calls for better tests to screen animals at the slaughterhouse. However, testing for this elusive disease is subject to intense debate. The tests are not foolproof, and there are many to choose from in a heated international competition.1
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is struggling with this testing issue and is seeking advice as to the course of action it should take. Your team has been hired by the USDA to recommend a testing protocol that balances the interests of public health with those of the cattle industry which will have to incur the expenses associated with implementing this protocol. Your report must include an explanation of the pathophysiology of the disease in humans, a detailed and comprehensive explanation of the recommended testing protocol, and your rationale (the criteria used) for selecting it over its competitors.
1. Jumble of Tests May Slow Mad Cow Solution, Sandra Blakeslee, New York Times, published: January 4, 2004.