Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Karl,

Thank you for publishing for us the info on "Mad Cow."
I have studied some research on it several years ago.  I believe that the decease showed up in mink or ferret population is a very northern state where the animals were fed some processed feed.  The need for higher protein feeds, and perhaps a sheep with scabies (sp) used in processing the feed, was considered the cause.

What I wonder about is the source of protein in some of our commercial packaged horse feeds.  There has been the debate about weather animal fat is good for our grazers.  Well, there is another problem if brains and spinal column material are used in the feed processing.  The muscle meat is not where the decease is carried.  Horse feed would use the rejected parts from meat plants.  

There was a study done in a very primitive population, I believe that the people were still cannibalistic, and had the disease.  Most men did not have the disease, because they got to eat first, the good muscle meats.  The Women and children, who ate last, got to eat brain and what ever they could, so the disease showed up mainly in the women and children.

Lynge