CJD - BSE ---......lots of letters

Creutzfeld Jacob disease and Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis are related diseases.  Both result in impaired neurologic function and are fatal. The increased motor disability varies from patient to patient but are inevitably fatal.
CJD and BSE came to the  world's attention in big banner headlines and bans of the import and movement of beef in the mid 1990 s. Hundreds of cases and deaths , realted to CJD  were reported.

The cause was the random mutation that caused BSE in a cow. The cow was fed to humans 2 ways. One , the meat was consumed and Two , the non human food parts were ground and included in a mash fed to other cows.

In the 70 s , researchers in the S Pacific documented a CJD like trend in a native tribe. The ultimate cause was the ritual consumption of relatives as a means of ensuring their spirit lived on in the generations that followed. A random mutation gave rise to a pattern of disease that could be traced based on historical research.

The government of Australia , the administrating body , banned human consumption in the late 60 s. Several extraordinary features in disease theory came from this case study.
After the ban on human - human feeding , cases of Kuru ( the native name ) still occurred. The incidence was much less but still seemed common.
The researchers theorized that Kuru could pass the human blood - brain barrier. Previous , to the Kuru study , it was believed that the brain could wall itself of from infections normal to the body . Kuru was shown to pass and cause sometimes rapid instigation of the disease mechanism.
Next, the only possible conclusion was that unlike any afore-studied disease , Kuru , had a long incubation period. Certainly , incubation periods of weeks or months had been observed in other diseases but Kuru was different. It was surmised that incubation periods for Kuru , could be several months , several years , several ................ decades and thy're still waiting for the definitive answer.
100 years is one guess.

 There was a repeat special on Kuru and  the recent cases in B.C. , seemed an interesting coincidence ..... umh , I wonder , does someone know something..... or is this my typical paranoia.

In B.C. , Canada , 3 cases of CJD were reported over the past year.
The belief is that these patients were infected in Britain. That means , the Canadians were infected in 1995 or so or post 1995. If infected in 1995 , the incubation period was some 18 years.

World wide , scientists , are expecting a new wave of CJD , as incubation periods approach those lengths experienced in Kuru.

Cattle are no longer fed cattle parts or sheep parts for protein. Random mutation will still occur but now should be isolated quickly and spread of the disease should not occur. Prior to BSE migrating to humans ( CJD ) , species to species , transfer , of disease was not normal.

As the U.S. , considers resumption of mail service w/ Cuba ( ban has been in effect since the late 60 s ) , some advice may be in order.
Canadians have been told to buy Foreign Cuban Pesos as opposed to the normal peso. The foreign peso is more valuable and is the only currency accepted in major tourist venues. However, the Foreign peso has no value outside of Cuba. Thus , spend or convert the Foreign peso before you leave.    U. S. $ , are not used ( but highly valued ).

Summer arrives to-morrow. We are anticipating 80 F in the next few days. A/C , work out time.