Could Eating Farmed Fish Lead To Mad Cow Disease?
Posted on: Saturday, 27 June 2009, 11:15 CDT
Scientists have raised concern over the potential for people to contract Creutzfeldt Jakob disease — the human form of "mad cow disease" — from eating farmed-raised fish that are fed byproducts rendered from cows, Reuters reported.
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, which is commonly referred to as Mad cow disease, is a fatal brain disease in cattle that may cause Creutzfeldt Jakob disease in humans who eat infected cow parts, scientists said.
Neurologist Dr. Robert P. Friedland and colleagues at University of Louisville in Kentucky suggest that farmed fish fed contaminated cow parts could transmit Creutzfeldt Jakob disease, they wrote in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
They are now urging government regulators to issue a ban on feeding cow meat or bone meal to fish until researchers can confirm the safety of this common practice.
The study notes, however, that eating fish at least two times a week is widely recommended because of the beneficial effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on the heart and brain.
Friedland and colleagues said they are concerned that eating farmed fish may provide a means of transmission of infectious proteins from cows to humans, resulting in variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease.
While they acknowledged they have not yet proven that it is possible for fish to transmit the disease to humans, they still believe that out of reasonable caution for public health, the practice of feeding rendered cows to fish should be prohibited.
"Fish do very well in the seas without eating cows," Friedland added.
The scientists emphasized that the risk of transmission of mad cow disease to humans who eat farmed fish "would appear to be low," due to perceived barriers between the species. But they noted that this was no guarantee that it can't happen.
Friedland said the fact that no cases of Creutzfeldt Jakob disease have been linked to eating farmed fish does not assure that feeding rendered cow parts to fish is safe.
"The incubation period of these diseases may last for decades, which makes the association between feeding practices and infection difficult," he explained.
Friedland and colleagues recommended that enhanced safeguards should be put in place to protect the public until a more thorough conclusion is reached.
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Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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