從上世紀70-80年代英國爆發狂牛病以來幾十年, 美國每年產牛近千萬, 三億多人民大部分人都在常吃.
歷史上, 美國國內一共找到三頭狂牛, 年齡都超過6歲, 沒有流入市場的可能.
歷史上, 美國國內總共找到三例得狂牛病的人, 第一例在70年代出生在英國, 1992年移居美國. 第二例也是英國出生, 1980-1996年英國居住, 然後移民美國. 這兩個病人都在英國狂牛病爆發的高危險期, 長年居住在英國. 第三例出生於沙烏地, 多年居住在那裡. 2005年才移居美國. 狂牛病潛伏期可能很長. 這三個例子幾乎可以肯定是在去美國前就感染的.
絞牛肉確實有點問題, 美國曾爆發過E. coli的問題, 但這和狂牛病無關, 也不單單是牛絞肉問題, 豬絞肉也有同樣的問題, 如果從澳洲, 紐西蘭進口絞肉也會有同樣的問題. 台灣民眾不習慣吃半生不熟的牛肉, 所以還沒有發生這類問題, 不過還是要提醒民眾, 牛肉, 尤其是絞牛肉, 最好煮熟再吃.
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附美國CDC關於美國狂牛病的報導:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/vcjd/factsheet_nvcjd.htm
vCJD Cases Reported in the US
Three cases of vCJD have been reported from the United States. By convention, variant CJD cases are ascribed to the country of initial symptom onset, regardless of where the exposure occurred. There is strong evidence that suggests
that two of the three cases were exposed to the BSE agent in the United
Kingdom and that the third was exposed while living in Saudi Arabia.
The
first patient was born in the United Kingdom in the late 1970's and
lived there until a move to Florida in 1992. The patient had onset of
symptoms in November 2001 and died in June of 2004. The patient never
donated or received blood, plasma, or organs, never received human
growth hormone, nor did the patient ever have major surgery other than
having wisdom teeth extracted in 2001. Additionally, there was no
family history of CJD.
The second patient resided in
Texas during 2001-2005. Symptoms began in early 2005 while the patient
was in Texas. He then returned to the United Kingdom, where his illness
progressed, and a diagnosis of variant CJD was made. The diagnosis was
confirmed neuropathologically at the time of the patient's death. While
living in the United States, the patient had no history of
hospitalization, of having invasive medical procedures, or of donation
or receipt of blood and blood products. The patient almost certainly
acquired the disease in the United Kingdom. He was born in the United
Kingdom and lived there throughout the defined period of risk
(1980-1996) for human exposure to the agent of bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE, commonly known as "mad cow" disease). His stay in
the United States was too brief relative to what is known about the
incubation period for variant CJD.
The third patient was
born and raised in Saudi Arabia and has lived in the United States
since late 2005. The patient occasionally stayed in the United States
for up to 3 months at a time since 2001 and there was a shorter visit
in 1989. The patient's onset of symptoms occurred in Spring 2006. In
late November 2006, the Clinical Prion Research Team at the University
of California San Francisco Memory and Aging Center confirmed the vCJD
clinical diagnosis by pathologic study of adenoid and brain biopsy
tissues. The patient has no history of receipt of blood, a past
neurosurgical procedure, or residing in or visiting countries of
Europe. Based on the patient's history, the occurrence of a previously
reported Saudi case of vCJD attributed to likely consumption of
BSE-contaminated cattle products in Saudi Arabia, and the expected
greater than 7 year incubation period for food-related vCJD, this U.S.
case-patient was most likely infected from contaminated cattle products
consumed as a child when living in Saudi Arabia (1). The patient has no
history of donating blood and the public health investigation has
identified no known risk of transmission to U.S. residents from this
patient.
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