Mad Cow Prions can be present in beef
Up until now, it has been thought that if the brain, spinal cord and intestines of mad cows is avoided, you can safely eat the normal beef cuts and other organs, such as the liver and heart. Now research at the University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland, shows that this may be wrong – if organs or tissues of infected cows are inflamed due to other diseases, they may be susceptible to habouring prions, and thus be a source of BSE, or mad cow disease.
The research has implications for the current BSE testing programs world-wide, as currently only the brains of cattle are tested for prions. As one might expect, unfortunately, these days, the agencies responsible for testing for BSE in the UK and the USA are both playing down the risks to the public at the moment.