AR-NEWS Digest 533

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Human Guinea Pigs in Sweden
     by Andrew Gach 
  2) AR-News--Admin Note
     by allen schubert 
  3) ADMIN NOTE!
     by Allen Schubert 
  4) (US) USDA to visit plant after E. coli found in Virginia
     by allen schubert 
  5) (US) EPA Backs 7 Plant Pesticides
     by allen schubert 
  6) EU ban on animal parts upsetting Greek appetites
     by allen schubert 
  7) (US) EPA Backs 7 Plant Pesticides
     by allen schubert 
  8) (US) USDA Tracking Down Hamburger from Beef America
     by allen schubert 
  9) (US) USDA to visit plant after E. coli found in Virginia
     by allen schubert 
 10) (US) "Mad Cow" Linked to Fatal Human Disorder
     by allen schubert 
 11) (US) Fighting E. coli at the Source
     by allen schubert 
 12) (FR/UK) Newspaper Documents Beef Smuggling
     by allen schubert 
 13) (US) Scientists Research Mad Cow Disease
     by allen schubert 
 14) (US) Gov't Eyes BeefAmerica Meat Plant
     by allen schubert 
 15) (US) "Mad Cow" Linked to Fatal Human Disorder
     by allen schubert 
 16) EU Official Backs British Beef Ban
     by allen schubert 
 17) (US) New Study Links Water to Frog Deformities
     by allen schubert 
Date: Wed, 24 Sep 1997 20:26:23 -0700
From: Andrew Gach 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Human Guinea Pigs in Sweden
Message-ID: <3429D9DF.16F8@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Swedes reportedly used in dental tests

Reuter Information Service

STOCKHOLM (September 22, 1997 11:15 a.m. EDT) - More than 400 "mentally
deficient" Swedes were fed one of the sweetest substances available in
the 1940s to test the causes of dental decay, a Swedish newspaper
reported Monday.

The report in the "Dagens Nyheter," published just a month after   
revelations of mass sterilizations of Swedish women in the same   
newspaper, said the legal experiments were carried out between 1946 and
1951.

"The complete history of Swedes' good teeth is like the history of mass
sterilisation; well documented but hardly known," the newspaper said.

A special caramel was manufactured especially for the experiments,   
designed to be too big to swallow but which stuck to teeth and gradually
melted.

Its maker described the caramel: "As far as we can tell, this is the
most dangerous and stickiest toffee available."

The sweets were fed to 436 unsuspecting "mentally deficient" patients at
Vipeholm Hospital near the southern Swedish university town of Lund from
1946 to 1951.

During the experiments, the patients were constantly fed the sticky   
toffee and some had saliva tests taken up to 36 times a day.

"No-one knows how much this hurt the Vipeholm patients. Probably no-one
asked," Dagens Nyheter said. The patients included children.

The newspaper said the experiments produced one of the most important 
pieces of research on teeth, concluding that sweets were damaging for 
teeth and that they could be eaten, but only occasionally.

In Sweden the research produced the term "Saturday sweeties," meaning 
sweets could be eaten by children once a week. In the United States it 
produced the phrase, "All the sweets you like but only once a week."

The project began in the same year that mass sterilization of Swedish 
women peaked. Revelations that Sweden sterilized thousands of poor and 
educationally inferior women against their will until as late as 1976 
prompted international outrage last month.

The sterilizations took place as part of an attempt to improve the   
genetic make-up of Swedes and has been likened to Hitler's attempts to 
introduce a pure-blooded race by eliminating "inferior" types.

The paper said that, as with the sterilizations, Swedish authorities  
appeared to completely ignore any ethical issues.

"The patients were unable to understand the aim of the experiments or
the consequences and everything indicates that relatives were never
asked for permission," the newspaper said.
Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 23:07:54 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: AR-News--Admin Note
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971001230752.006fb4b0@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Not so routine posting!

To unsubscribe, send e-mail to:  listproc@envirolink.org

In text of message:  unsubscribe ar-news
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Here are some items of general information (found in the "welcome letter"
sent when people subscribe--but often lose!)...included:  how to post and
how to change your subscription status (useful if you are going on
vacation--either by "unsubscribe" or "postpone").
---------------------------------------------------------------

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Discussions on AR-News will NOT be allowed and we ask that any
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If you have problems, please contact:

     Allen Schubert
     ar-admin@envirolink.org
     

Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 23:20:07 -0400
From: Allen Schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: ADMIN NOTE!
Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19971001232007.0069c7a8@envirolink.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Due to a catastrophic hard drive crash, Envirolink was offline for several
days.  The Envirolink staff has worked hard at reestablishing their website
and services.  Not all work is complete, but Listproc seems to be working
again.

Allen Schubert
ar-admin@envirolink.org
Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 23:22:03 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) USDA to visit plant after E. coli found in Virginia
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971001232201.006f6d08@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from CNN web page:
------------------------------------
                     USDA to visit plant after E. coli found in Virginia
                     September 28, 1997                         
                     Web posted at: 11:33 a.m. EDT (1533 GMT)

                     NORFOLK, Nebraska (AP) -- A federal meat inspector
                     is set to visit the BeefAmerica packing plant in
                     Norfolk Monday to investigate its possible link to
                     tainted beef found in Virginia.

                     The planned inspection comes after E. coli
                     bacteria was found in fresh ground beef at a
                     supermarket in Emporia, Virginia, earlier this
                     month, said Jacque Knight, a spokeswoman for U.S.
                     Department of Agriculture in Washington.

                     The store's records indicate the beef originated
                     from the Norfolk plant, Knight said.

                     BeefAmerica does not believe the plant is the
                     source of the contamination, said Keith DeHann, a
                     company spokesman in Omaha.

                     "We haven't been provided any evidence or fact
                     that it (the beef) is ours," he said. "We know
                     that there was one other supplier's product there
                     at the store at the same time."

                     Meat from the plant is not under recall, Knight
                     said. She said no illnesses have been reported
                     stemming from the tainted meat in Virginia.

                     Strain received national attention last month

                     Knight said the strain of bacteria detected at the
                     Virginia store is the E. coli O157:H7, which can
                     cause serious illness or even death if the meat is
                     not cooked properly. The strain received national
                     attention last month with the recall of 25 million
                     pounds of ground beef from a Hudson Foods plant in
                     Columbus.

                     The Great Valu Supermarket in Emporia, Virginia,
                     is conducting a voluntary recall of any fresh
                     ground beef sold in the store Sept. 3 or 4.

                     Knight said it is likely that the bacteria is
                     isolated to the beef sold at the store those two
                     days, and that all the meat in question already
                     has been consumed.

                     "But if there's still product out there, it could
                     make people sick," she said.

                     The bad beef was detected as part of the USDA's
                     random meat-sampling program that has been in
                     place since 1994, Knight said.

                     Determining the source of the bacteria has been
                     difficult, she said. One meat sample from the
                     Virginia store was taken after it was run through
                     a grinder not cleaned prior to the test, but she
                     said a second sample from an unopened package of
                     ground beef also tested positive for E. coli.

                     Knight said it appears the meat in question was
                     shipped from the BeefAmerica plant in Norfolk to a
                     distributor in Richmond, Virginia, and then to the
                     supermarket.

                     "The BeefAmerica plant has been very cooperative
                     in working with us so far," she said.

                     BeefAmerica's plant in Norfolk is prepared for
                     Monday's inspection, DeHann said.

                     "We are complying 100 percent. Our records are
                     ready..." he said. "We have nothing to fear."



Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 23:22:46 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) EPA Backs 7 Plant Pesticides
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971001232242.0073a800@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

genetic engineering
from AP Wire page:
------------------------------------
 09/27/1997 11:25 EST

 EPA Backs 7 Plant Pesticides

 By CURT ANDERSON
 AP Farm Writer

 WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a quiet revolution, the use of genetic science in
 agriculture has now reached the point where farmers are planting crops
 that contain the material needed to kill many pests -- all without
 spraying chemicals.

 Foremost among these new varieties are plants with the ability to produce
 toxins because they contain genes from a common soil bacteria known as
 B.t. There are numerous kinds of B.t. -- shorthand for Bacillus
 thurigiensis -- each with the ability to destroy specific kinds of
 insects.

 The Environmental Protection Agency has so far approved seven such
 plant-pesticides for corn, cotton and potatoes. This year's B.t. corn
 crop is estimated at about 3 million acres, and dramatically improved
 yields are projected.

 B.t. is an important weapon in the battle by corn farmers against the
 European corn borer. For cotton farmers, it can help control boll
 weevils, while potato growers gain protection again Colorado potato
 beetles.

 ``It's going to be extremely important to our ability to meet the food
 demands of the future in environmentally sound ways,'' said Chuck
 Johnson, chief of Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., the world's largest
 seed company.

 But organic farmers and environmental groups, including Greenpeace and
 the Sierra Club, say there's a hidden danger: insects may become
 resistant to B.t. more quickly because of constant high-dose exposure to
 the plants, destroying B.t.'s effectiveness as a conventional insecticide
 forever.

 Organic farmers say the B.t. sprays, which have been in use for 36 years,
 are the only effective natural alternative to synthetic pesticides.

 ``Should we ever lose B.t., our ability as organic farmers to grow
 quality produce will be in serious question,'' said Jim Gerritsen, an
 organic potato farmer from Bridgewater, Maine.

 The groups this month filed a petition with the EPA demanding that all
 B.t. plant-pesticide registrations be canceled and that the agency
 conduct a thorough study of the impact of allowing such crops. The issue
 could wind up in federal court.

 EPA spokesman Al Heier said the agency regards the petition as a serious
 one, but he noted that the agency consulted outside panels of scientific
 experts on the issue of insect resistance before issuing the B.t.
 registrations.

 ``Resistance management was the main issue we wrestled with,'' Heier
 said.

 The key, according to EPA, is that farmers who grow B.t. crops must set
 aside nearby areas with untreated plants.

 On these acres, known as ``refugia,'' the insect pests could grow and
 reproduce without being exposed to the pesticide plants. Their offspring,
 the theory goes, would remain sensitive to B.t. -- and when they mate
 with any insects that have gained resistance to B.t., the little bugs
 those unions produce would still be sensitive to B.t.

 ``We feel that's as good a program as you can have,'' Heier said.

 The agriculture industry insists it can manage the resistance issue
 effectively using these methods. The National Cotton Council, for
 instance, found in a 1998 survey of B.t. growers that 98 percent of them
 properly set aside the ``refugia'' acreage.

 In addition, cotton growers in Alabama were able to protect their crop
 last year using the fewest pounds of pesticides in 50 years, said Frank
 Carter, pest management manager for the Cotton Council.

 ``B.t. cotton is one of the most environmentally friendly and
 economically advantageous crop protection tools ever made available to
 cotton growers,'' Carter said.

 Still, Pioneer's Johnson acknowledged that the insect resistance concern
 is a real one that demands close scrutiny as B.t. crops are increasingly
 used by American farmers.

 ``We are on the front end of really understanding how to use these
 things,'' Johnson said. ``We have to be diligent in how we test and
 evaluate those products so we don't make mistakes.''



Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 23:22:57 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: EU ban on animal parts upsetting Greek appetites
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971001232255.00733848@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from CNN web page:
---------------------------------
EU ban on animal parts upsetting Greek appetites

Eyes, spleens, entrails part of traditional cooking

September 28, 1997
Web posted at: 6:09 p.m. EDT (2209 GMT) 
>From Reporter Anthee Carassava 

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- Greek cooks and butchers are out of sorts because
of a decision by the European Union to ban the sale of animal eyes, brains,
spleens and assorted other parts not usually thought of as food. 

The EU says the new policy, which is scheduled to go into effect January 1,
will help combat the spread of "mad-cow disease," bovine spongiform
encephalopathy. An outbreak of the brain-wasting disease in Britain has
been traced to feeding sheep parts to cows. 

Once in effect, slaughterhouses across the continent will have to destroy
the brains, eyes, spinal cords and spleens of cattle, sheep and goats older
than 12 months of age.  

But some of the very ingredients the EU wants to ban are staples in
traditional Greek cooking. 

"We were born eating this stuff," huffs one Greek housewife. "Why should we
change our habits? To please the appetites of these European officials?
Never." 

Lamb heads and stuffed spleens grace the table of nearly every Greek
taverna. Soups made from the innards of sheep are common meals and have a
place at Greek Easter feasts. And kokoretsi -- diced offal wrapped in sheep
intestines -- is a national hors d'oeuvre. 

Even the eyes of lambs are cherished as a favorite finger-licking treat,
often plucked from the baked head by the eater. 

Butchers and government officials claim the ban is unfair because no Greek
animal products have ever been linked to mad-cow disease. The government
plans to seek an exemption from the ban. 

Should that fail, many Greeks say they'll just keep on eating as they have
-- they'll just dine on the sly. 


Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 23:23:04 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) EPA Backs 7 Plant Pesticides
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971001232301.0072f74c@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

genetic engineering
from AP Wire page:
------------------------------------
 09/27/1997 11:25 EST

 EPA Backs 7 Plant Pesticides

 By CURT ANDERSON
 AP Farm Writer

 WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a quiet revolution, the use of genetic science in
 agriculture has now reached the point where farmers are planting crops
 that contain the material needed to kill many pests -- all without
 spraying chemicals.

 Foremost among these new varieties are plants with the ability to produce
 toxins because they contain genes from a common soil bacteria known as
 B.t. There are numerous kinds of B.t. -- shorthand for Bacillus
 thurigiensis -- each with the ability to destroy specific kinds of
 insects.

 The Environmental Protection Agency has so far approved seven such
 plant-pesticides for corn, cotton and potatoes. This year's B.t. corn
 crop is estimated at about 3 million acres, and dramatically improved
 yields are projected.

 B.t. is an important weapon in the battle by corn farmers against the
 European corn borer. For cotton farmers, it can help control boll
 weevils, while potato growers gain protection again Colorado potato
 beetles.

 ``It's going to be extremely important to our ability to meet the food
 demands of the future in environmentally sound ways,'' said Chuck
 Johnson, chief of Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., the world's largest
 seed company.

 But organic farmers and environmental groups, including Greenpeace and
 the Sierra Club, say there's a hidden danger: insects may become
 resistant to B.t. more quickly because of constant high-dose exposure to
 the plants, destroying B.t.'s effectiveness as a conventional insecticide
 forever.

 Organic farmers say the B.t. sprays, which have been in use for 36 years,
 are the only effective natural alternative to synthetic pesticides.

 ``Should we ever lose B.t., our ability as organic farmers to grow
 quality produce will be in serious question,'' said Jim Gerritsen, an
 organic potato farmer from Bridgewater, Maine.

 The groups this month filed a petition with the EPA demanding that all
 B.t. plant-pesticide registrations be canceled and that the agency
 conduct a thorough study of the impact of allowing such crops. The issue
 could wind up in federal court.

 EPA spokesman Al Heier said the agency regards the petition as a serious
 one, but he noted that the agency consulted outside panels of scientific
 experts on the issue of insect resistance before issuing the B.t.
 registrations.

 ``Resistance management was the main issue we wrestled with,'' Heier
 said.

 The key, according to EPA, is that farmers who grow B.t. crops must set
 aside nearby areas with untreated plants.

 On these acres, known as ``refugia,'' the insect pests could grow and
 reproduce without being exposed to the pesticide plants. Their offspring,
 the theory goes, would remain sensitive to B.t. -- and when they mate
 with any insects that have gained resistance to B.t., the little bugs
 those unions produce would still be sensitive to B.t.

 ``We feel that's as good a program as you can have,'' Heier said.

 The agriculture industry insists it can manage the resistance issue
 effectively using these methods. The National Cotton Council, for
 instance, found in a 1998 survey of B.t. growers that 98 percent of them
 properly set aside the ``refugia'' acreage.

 In addition, cotton growers in Alabama were able to protect their crop
 last year using the fewest pounds of pesticides in 50 years, said Frank
 Carter, pest management manager for the Cotton Council.

 ``B.t. cotton is one of the most environmentally friendly and
 economically advantageous crop protection tools ever made available to
 cotton growers,'' Carter said.

 Still, Pioneer's Johnson acknowledged that the insect resistance concern
 is a real one that demands close scrutiny as B.t. crops are increasingly
 used by American farmers.

 ``We are on the front end of really understanding how to use these
 things,'' Johnson said. ``We have to be diligent in how we test and
 evaluate those products so we don't make mistakes.''



Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 23:23:54 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) USDA Tracking Down Hamburger from Beef America
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971001232352.00725224@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from Yahoo news page:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday September 29 7:07 AM EDT

USDA Tracking Down Hamburger from Beef America

WASHINGTON (Reuter) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Sunday it was
investigating a strain of E.coli bacteria found in ground beef shipped from
a Beef America Co. plant to a Virginia grocery store late last month.

A compliance officer would arrive at the Norfolk, Nebraska slaughtering and
production facility to check the company's records and determine where
other ground beef handled that day was shipped, said USDA spokeswoman
Jacque Knight.

Knight said the 40-60 pounds of fresh ground beef sold by the Emporia, Va.
store Sept. 3-4 had been recalled about two weeks ago after a random sample
taken by USDA turned up the E.coli bacteria. Test results from a second
sample taken from the meat at the store also turned up positive.

"What we're checking now is too see what further distribution there was of
the product", originating from the Norfolf Beef America plant, Knight told
Reuters.

A television report on the Washington NBC affiliate, WRC, quoted a
spokesman for Beef America as saying he did not believe the company's plant
was the source of the contamination.

The latest report of tainted hamburger meat follows the recall from Hudson
Foods Inc. last month of 25 million pounds of frozen hamburger patties.

South Korea last week asked the United States to halt frozen beef exports
from a plant operated by IBP Inc after the E.coli bacteria turned up in 18
metric tons shipped to South Korea. IBP has agreed to buy Hudson Foods.

Knight cautioned consumers against panicking, noting that there had been no
reports of any illnesses associated with the latest E.coli incident. The
recall prevented any meat still in the store from being sold, Knight said.

USDA has collected 16,000 random samples at grocery stores and processing
plants around the country since 1994, and this was only the ninth positive
identification of meat containing the dangerous, and sometimes deadly,
E.coli, Knight said.

"It's a very rare finding," she said. "But the message ... is that we want
retail stores and federal plants to be aware that we do sample and we could
recall them."

Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 23:24:00 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) USDA to visit plant after E. coli found in Virginia
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971001232357.00721190@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from CNN web page:
------------------------------------
                     USDA to visit plant after E. coli found in Virginia
                     September 28, 1997                         
                     Web posted at: 11:33 a.m. EDT (1533 GMT)

                     NORFOLK, Nebraska (AP) -- A federal meat inspector
                     is set to visit the BeefAmerica packing plant in
                     Norfolk Monday to investigate its possible link to
                     tainted beef found in Virginia.

                     The planned inspection comes after E. coli
                     bacteria was found in fresh ground beef at a
                     supermarket in Emporia, Virginia, earlier this
                     month, said Jacque Knight, a spokeswoman for U.S.
                     Department of Agriculture in Washington.

                     The store's records indicate the beef originated
                     from the Norfolk plant, Knight said.

                     BeefAmerica does not believe the plant is the
                     source of the contamination, said Keith DeHann, a
                     company spokesman in Omaha.

                     "We haven't been provided any evidence or fact
                     that it (the beef) is ours," he said. "We know
                     that there was one other supplier's product there
                     at the store at the same time."

                     Meat from the plant is not under recall, Knight
                     said. She said no illnesses have been reported
                     stemming from the tainted meat in Virginia.

                     Strain received national attention last month

                     Knight said the strain of bacteria detected at the
                     Virginia store is the E. coli O157:H7, which can
                     cause serious illness or even death if the meat is
                     not cooked properly. The strain received national
                     attention last month with the recall of 25 million
                     pounds of ground beef from a Hudson Foods plant in
                     Columbus.

                     The Great Valu Supermarket in Emporia, Virginia,
                     is conducting a voluntary recall of any fresh
                     ground beef sold in the store Sept. 3 or 4.

                     Knight said it is likely that the bacteria is
                     isolated to the beef sold at the store those two
                     days, and that all the meat in question already
                     has been consumed.

                     "But if there's still product out there, it could
                     make people sick," she said.

                     The bad beef was detected as part of the USDA's
                     random meat-sampling program that has been in
                     place since 1994, Knight said.

                     Determining the source of the bacteria has been
                     difficult, she said. One meat sample from the
                     Virginia store was taken after it was run through
                     a grinder not cleaned prior to the test, but she
                     said a second sample from an unopened package of
                     ground beef also tested positive for E. coli.

                     Knight said it appears the meat in question was
                     shipped from the BeefAmerica plant in Norfolk to a
                     distributor in Richmond, Virginia, and then to the
                     supermarket.

                     "The BeefAmerica plant has been very cooperative
                     in working with us so far," she said.

                     BeefAmerica's plant in Norfolk is prepared for
                     Monday's inspection, DeHann said.

                     "We are complying 100 percent. Our records are
                     ready..." he said. "We have nothing to fear."



Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 23:24:05 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) "Mad Cow" Linked to Fatal Human Disorder
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971001232403.0071d79c@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from Yahoo news page:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday September 29 6:23 PM EDT

"Mad Cow" Linked to Fatal Human Disorder

By Theresa Tamkins

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- New evidence "strongly suggests" that a fatal brain
disease diagnosed in a handful of people in the U.K. and France are indeed
the result of consuming beef from cattle infected with "mad cow" disease.

According to two new studies in the journal Nature, brain tissue from both
infected cattle and humans show a distinctive and nearly identical pattern
when injected into mice -- raising the possibility that an epidemic of
human disease could become a problem.

At least 21 people in the U.K. and 1 in France have developed a new variant
of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). The new cases are unusual in that they
strike young adults -- average age 29 -- and because patients survive for a
little more than a year after the onset of unique symptoms, which include
depression, hallucinations, memory loss and unstable gait.

The rate of new cases of vCJD is not increasing, "which provides some hope
that the overall number will be relatively small," according to an
editorial by Jeffrey Almond of the University of Reading and John Pattison
at University College in London. "But it may take several years before we
can be confident that this isn't a period of comparative calm before a
storm."

The cases of vCJD were hypothesized to be the result of the epidemic of
"mad cow" disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the U.K. in the
1980s, which culminated in the sacrifice of millions of cows and a ban on
the use of brain and other tissues in meat products by the early 1990s. The
incubation period for spongiform encephalopathies in humans can be years if
not decades, so the current cases may be due to eating contaminated beef in
the 1980s.

"Our data provide strong evidence that the same agent strain is involved in
both BSE and vCJD," reported Dr. Moira Bruce of the Institute of Animal
Health in Edinburgh, Scotland. The researchers found that mice injected
with brain samples from BSE cows and people with vCJD developed
neurological disease after a uniform incubation, from 288 to 351 days, and
had a "strikingly similar" pattern of spongy holes in the brain, known as
"florid" plaques.

In contrast, brain tissue from two people with sporadic CJD (aged 57 and
82), and from two dairy farmers (aged 61 and 64) with CJD did not cause a
BSE-like pattern in mice, even 600 to 800 days after infection.

In the second study, researchers at St. Mary's Hospital and the Institute
of Psychiatry in London found a similar pattern between prion protein found
in the brains of BSE cows and patients with vCJD. Prions are infectious
proteins that are thought to cause spongiform encephalopathies, although
the theory is still controversial. The vCJD and BSE agents are the same,
and distinct from those that cause other types of CJD.

The new studies lead to the "inescapable conclusion new variant CJD is the
human counterpart of BSE," said study co-author Professor John Collinge, of
the Prion Disease Group at the Imperial College School of Medicine at St.
Mary's in London. SOURCE: Nature (1997;389:448-450, 498-501)

Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 23:24:42 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Fighting E. coli at the Source
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971001232435.00712964@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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from Yahoo news page:
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Monday September 29 2:16 PM EDT

Fighting E. coli at the Source

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria, the pathogen involved in
the recent hamburger recall, may be harder to control than other food-borne
infectious agents, researchers say. But new technologies may help beat the
bacteria in the factory and on the farm.

Instead of inhibiting the growth of existing colonies of the microbe (a
strategy proven effective against most food-borne germs), the fight against
E. coli "must focus on reducing or eliminating the presence of the
microorganism" altogether, according to Drs. Robert Buchanan and Michael
Doyle, two researchers at the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), a
nonprofit professional organization representing the food sciences. Their
report on E. coli control is scheduled for release next month.

E. coli infection can cause gastrointestinal upset and diarrhea serious
enough to warrant hospitalization. The recent outbreak of E. coli linked to
hamburger meat resulted in the recall of over 40 million pounds of frozen
patties from store shelves across the U.S.

The two experts point out that the E. coli dosage needed to result in
illness is much lower than that of most other pathogens -- infection with
less than 10 E. coli cells can result in illness.

And refrigeration, which usually keeps microbe growth under control,
actually extends the survival time of E. coli in food, experts say.

Finally, E. coli has what the two experts label "unusual acid tolerance" --
making it more resistant to interventions of heat, radiation, and
antimicrobial drugs.

Based on these facts, Buchanan and Doyle believe the best way to stop E.
coli is to eliminate it at its source: farm and factory.

On the farm, the researchers discourage the fertilization of crops with
fresh manure. E. coli has been traced to manure, they say, and can survive
in it far beyond the two-month limit of other pathogens.

They also advocate the introduction of 'competitor' organisms into the
digestive tract of cattle. These benign microbes often 'crowd out' the E.
coli bacteria that naturally occur there -- preventing E. coli's eventual
passage to humans further along the food chain.

The two authors say that, in the factory, ionization radiation (already
federally-approved for foods like vegetables, fruits, poultry and pork)
should be used to eliminate E. coli during food processing. Federal
approval for the use of radiation on seafood and beef is currently under
review.

There is another method for decontaminating red meat, however. Buchanan and
Doyle say steam pasteurization -- the quick spraying of hot steam on beef
carcasses -- can achieve a nearly 1000-fold reduction in beef-borne E. coli
populations.

The IFT experts believe all of these methods represent steps "lethal to the
pathogen."

They believe E. coli needs to be eliminated before it reaches the
supermarket. The researchers point out that the only surefire way to
eliminate E. coli at home is heating foods to at least 160 degrees
Fahrenheit -- a method practical for some, but not all, foods.

Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 23:24:52 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (FR/UK) Newspaper Documents Beef Smuggling
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971001232446.0070ebbc@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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(Mad Cow)
from AP Wire page:
----------------------------------
 09/28/1997 18:15 EST

 Newspaper Documents Beef Smuggling

 By CHRISTOPHER BURNS
 Associated Press Writer

 PARIS (AP) -- At least 11,000 tons of British beef have been shipped to
 mainland Europe by way of Ireland and Northern Ireland to get around an
 export ban, a French newspaper reported Sunday.

 The report came a day after Saudi Arabia banned beef from Germany
 believed to have come from Britain, where so-called mad cow disease
 prompted the European Union to ban British beef exports in March 1996.

 Reports of leaks in the ban have persisted from the start, but the
 article in Sunday's Journal de Dimanche involved what appeared to be the
 largest slip yet.

 The Journal said Britain's farm minister, Jack Cunningham, told a member
 of the European Parliament on Aug. 28 that ``several tens of thousands of
 tons'' were fraudulently exported from Britain in the past year and aimed
 at the European market.

 A spokesman for the EU's executive commission in Brussels had no comment
 on the report, and there was no immediate reaction from London, though
 Cunningham has promised ``tough action'' against illegal beef exporters.

 The newspaper said its two-month investigation revealed two smuggling
 routes: One via Ireland, where the meat was given bogus Irish or Belgian
 labels, and another through Northern Ireland where the beef was shipped
 on small boats to France and Belgium.

 The French agriculture and fishing minister, Louis Le Pensec, said in a
 statement that the report ``adds nothing new'' and that France was
 working closely with the EU to maintain the embargo.

 Le Pensec, however, said he asked EU officials last week in Brussels that
 measures against the mad cow disease be reinforced.

 Belgium's health minister, Marcel Colla, told RTBF television Sunday that
 the report was ``all new to me.''

 But if verified, ``it confirms that this is not just fraud on a Belgian
 level, but fraud on a European level,'' he said. ``The first thing we
 have to do at a European level is to organize efficient controls in
 England to prevent these exports.''

 Customs officials in France have provided French investigative Judge
 Edith Boizette a report showing four French companies were involved.

 In most cases, the companies claimed the beef was not British, and that
 in any case, it was destined for export outside of Europe, mainly toward
 Egypt and Russia, the Journal reported.

 The paper said European Union and national officials have been reluctant
 to assist judicial investigations out of fear of further harming the beef
 industry, already hard-hit by the mad cow disease.

 Britain had already been on notice about the cracks in the ban. The
 European Commission last week sent London a ``warning letter'' saying
 inadequate checks of slaughterhouses and meat transportation permitted
 the illegal export of more than 2,200 tons of British beef between
 February and July.

 The letter gives Britain 30 days to improve slaughterhouse and
 meat-transport controls or face possible sanction by the European Court
 of Justice.

 The beef was exported to Germany and the Netherlands, the Commission
 said.

 In Saudi Arabia, a ban on beef from Germany was announced Saturday by the
 Ministry of Trade after reports that some German companies were
 restamping British beef as German, the agency said late Saturday.

 Officials at the Germany Embassy said they were looking into the report
 but would not comment further.

 Troubles with British beef began after researchers linked mad cow disease
 -- also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy -- and a fatal human
 ailment, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.

Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 23:24:59 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Scientists Research Mad Cow Disease
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971001232456.0070be18@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from AP Wire page:
-----------------------------------
 09/29/1997 16:29 EST

 Scientists Research Mad Cow Disease

 NEW YORK (AP) -- Scientists have found more evidence that a brain-wasting
 disease that has struck 21 people in England was caused by eating
 contaminated beef.

 Last year, the British government warned that cattle with so-called mad
 cow disease were the most likely cause of a variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob
 disease in people.

 Both conditions are blamed on infectious proteins called prions.

 Previous laboratory studies have supported the idea that prions from
 cattle caused the human disease. Further evidence appears in two new
 studies from England and Scotland that will appear in next Thursday's
 issue of the journal Nature.

 The work makes a convincing case that the cow and human diseases are
 caused by the same strain of germ, Jeffrey Almond of the University of
 Reading in England and Dr. John Pattison of the University College London
 Medical School write in an accompanying commentary.

 For one paper, scientists injected mice with ground-up brain samples from
 three people who had died from the variant of Creutzfeld-Jakob disease
 and from six people who had had the standard form of that disease.

 Mice exposed to the CJD variant have gotten sick, with symptoms and brain
 abnormalities like those seen in mice exposed to mad cow disease. In
 contrast, the mice injected with extracts from the standard CJD haven't
 shown any outward sign of disease, though brain exams showed they did get
 infected.

 The other paper, which also worked with infected mice, found chemical
 evidence that the CJD variant and mad cow disease are caused by the same
 kind of prion.

Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 23:25:18 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Gov't Eyes BeefAmerica Meat Plant
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971001232516.007061fc@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from AP Wire page:
----------------------------------
 09/29/1997 20:26 EST

 Gov't Eyes BeefAmerica Meat Plant

 By SCOTT BAUER
 Associated Press Writer

 NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) -- A federal inspector checked records at a
 meatpacking plant here Monday looking for a possible link between the
 plant and tainted ground beef found in a Virginia grocery store.

 Officials at the BeefAmerica plant say the Virginia store mixed
 ingredients from several suppliers and there is no proof the contaminated
 meat came from them. No illnesses have been reported.

 It was unclear Monday where the contamination occurred. It also appeared
 to be an isolated case of E. coli bacteria.

 ``Until the USDA completes its investigation and review, it is impossible
 to accurately state what the source of contamination is,'' said
 BeefAmerica General Manager Dennis Sydow.

 The Emporia, Va., store has recalled 200 pounds of fresh ground beef that
 it sold on Sept. 3 and 4. Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Jacque
 Knight has said the supermarket's records indicated the beef originated
 at the Norfolk plant. She did not return telephone calls Monday.

 Officials at the grocery store declined to comment.

 A BeefAmerica spokesman characterized the investigation as a ``little
 issue'' that would not be drawing as much attention had it not been for
 an E. coli scare this summer that was traced to a Hudson Foods plant in
 Columbus, Neb., about 40 miles south of Norfolk. In that case, 25 million
 pounds of hamburger were recalled.

 ``We do believe if the Hudson Foods fiasco did not happen, this attention
 would not be directed at us right now,'' said BeefAmerica spokesman Keith
 DeHann.

 BeefAmerica meat is not being recalled.

Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 23:25:24 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) "Mad Cow" Linked to Fatal Human Disorder
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971001232521.007028e8@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from Yahoo news page:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday September 30 1:56 PM EDT

"Mad Cow" Linked to Fatal Human Disorder

By Theresa Tamkins

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- New evidence "strongly suggests" that a fatal brain
disease diagnosed in a handful of people in the U.K. and France are indeed
the result of consuming beef from cattle infected with "mad cow" disease.

According to two new studies in the journal Nature, brain tissue from both
infected cattle and humans show a distinctive and nearly identical pattern
when injected into mice -- raising the possibility that an epidemic of
human disease could become a problem.

At least 21 people in the U.K. and 1 in France have developed a new variant
of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). The new cases are unusual in that they
strike young adults -- average age 29 -- and because patients survive for a
little more than a year after the onset of unique symptoms, which include
depression, hallucinations, memory loss and unstable gait.

The rate of new cases of vCJD is not increasing, "which provides some hope
that the overall number will be relatively small," according to an
editorial by Jeffrey Almond of the University of Reading and John Pattison
at University College in London. "But it may take several years before we
can be confident that this isn't a period of comparative calm before a
storm."

The cases of vCJD were hypothesized to be the result of the epidemic of
"mad cow" disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the U.K. in the
1980s, which culminated in the sacrifice of millions of cows and a ban on
the use of brain and other tissues in meat products by the early 1990s. The
incubation period for spongiform encephalopathies in humans can be years if
not decades, so the current cases may be due to eating contaminated beef in
the 1980s.

"Our data provide strong evidence that the same agent strain is involved in
both BSE and vCJD," reported Dr. Moira Bruce of the Institute of Animal
Health in Edinburgh, Scotland. The researchers found that mice injected
with brain samples from BSE cows and people with vCJD developed
neurological disease after a uniform incubation, from 288 to 351 days, and
had a "strikingly similar" pattern of spongy holes in the brain, known as
"florid" plaques.

In contrast, brain tissue from two people with sporadic CJD (aged 57 and
82), and from two dairy farmers (aged 61 and 64) with CJD did not cause a
BSE-like pattern in mice, even 600 to 800 days after infection.

In the second study, researchers at St. Mary's Hospital and the Institute
of Psychiatry in London found a similar pattern between prion protein found
in the brains of BSE cows and patients with vCJD. Prions are infectious
proteins that are thought to cause spongiform encephalopathies, although
the theory is still controversial. The vCJD and BSE agents are the same,
and distinct from those that cause other types of CJD.

The new studies lead to the "inescapable conclusion new variant CJD is the
human counterpart of BSE," said study co-author Professor John Collinge, of
the Prion Disease Group at the Imperial College School of Medicine at St.
Mary's in London. SOURCE: Nature (1997;389:448-450, 498-501)
Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 23:25:29 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: EU Official Backs British Beef Ban
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971001232527.006f617c@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from AP Wire page:
-------------------------------------
 09/30/1997 12:36 EST

 EU Official Backs British Beef Ban

 LUXEMBOURG (AP) -- A senior official of the European Union's highest
 court today said a ban on British beef exports was justified because it
 countered the ``real risk'' of spreading a deadly human brain ailment
 linked to mad cow disease.

 The opinion by Giuseppe Tesauro, Advocate General of the European Court
 of Justice, drew protests from British farmers, who say the ban unfairly
 cuts into their livelihood.

 The full court is expected to rule on the issue by the end of the year,
 but the advocate general's opinion is usually a good indication of which
 way the ruling will go.

 The EU banned exports of British beef in March 1996 after researchers
 linked mad cow disease in cattle to the human brain-wasting ailment
 Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.

 Tesauro said the seriousness of mad cow disease, or Bovine Spongiform
 Encephalopathy, ``constituted a real risk, which vindicates the
 decision.''

 Britain's National Farmers Union said the EU Commission, which runs the
 day-to-day affairs of the 15-nation bloc, was acting outside of its
 mandate when it imposed the ban.

 Union president Sir David Naish stressed that Britain had ``taken
 enormous steps forward in further helping to eradicate the risk of BSE.''

 British Agriculture Minister Jack Cunningham said the government was
 ``working constructively with the European Commission ... which would
 permit the gradual resumption of beef exports.''

 Tesauro's opinion backed a provision of the ban covering exports to
 non-EU nations.

 ``The ban on exports to non-member countries is an indispensable tool for
 ensuring that the decision is truly effective,'' Tesauro said.

 The ban has proven to be flawed. The EU Commission has said it was aware
 of illegal exports involving only some 2,200 tons of beef.

 EU spokesman Klaus Van der Pas said the Commission's powers to enforce
 the ban were limited because border controls are largely the responsibly
 of member nations.

Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 23:25:34 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) New Study Links Water to Frog Deformities
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971001232532.006d00dc@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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from Yahoo news page:
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Tuesday September 30 7:48 PM EDT

New Study Links Water to Frog Deformities

ST. PAUL, Minn. (Reuter) - Gross deformities found in frogs in recent years
-- such as missing or extra limbs and a frog with an eye growing out its
throat -- are traceable to something in the waters they inhabit, scientists
said Tuesday.

Preliminary results of experiments conducted by Minnesota and U.S.
researchers showed that frog eggs nurtured in water taken from two wetland
sites in northwest Minnesota where deformed frogs had been found produced
malformed frog embryos.

"We know that something in the water, including groundwater (used by human
residents for drinking water), is extraordinarily potent in malforming
frogs," said Dr. George Lucier, director of the environmental toxicology
program at the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

"We now need to determine if people are at risk," he said in a statement.
"The causative agent or agents could be chemical contaminants or natural
products such as pond plants or algae," Lucier said, adding that the
results of a chemical analysis of the pond water will be available in two
months.

In the experiments, frog embryos from a non-native species, the African
clawed frog, developed malformations even in half-diluted pond samples.
Samples taken from areas without deformed frogs produced normal embryos.

The discovery of large numbers of deformed frogs created international
alarm because frogs are seen as a "sentinel" species whose deformities may
reflect a poisoned environment.

Several theories have emerged about what is behind the phenomenom.

Some scientists believe man-made chemicals released in the environment
mimic the frogs' hormones and cause deformities, while others blame natural
parasites, increased ultraviolet radiation, viruses, algae blooms or
predators.

Frogs' skins are permeable to water and previous research showed the most
commonly deformed species to be mink and leopard frogs, which spend the
most time in the water. Deformed frogs have been reported in Wisconsin,
Iowa, South Dakota, Missouri, California, Texas, Vermont and Quebec.

A seperate group of researchers analyzing unexplained die-offs of tropical
frog species in the highlands of Central America and in Australia were
scheduled to meet next month at the University of Illinois at Champaign. A
protozoan is suspected of killing the frogs and some scientists theorize
that chemicals carried by rainclouds weaken the frogs and allowed the
protozoan to proliferate.



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