Informant38

The findings over the weekend showed that the cow had probably not been infected during the last two years, and that unhealthy practices were not evident on the ranch outside Wanham, a town in northwestern Alberta, where the cow last lived.
"Its good news," The Globe and Mail quoted Brian Evans, the chief veterinary officer for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, as telling reporters. "But we're trying to put this in context. It's one step."
___________
The nation's export-dependent cattle industry, representing $7 billion a year in sales, remains paralyzed. Large-scale sales of cattle have been halted, as prices plummeted last week. Still, experts say there is no immediate risk to public health and that it is highly unlikely that the outbreak will be anywhere near as serious as outbreaks in Europe in the 1980's and 1990's that led to the slaughter of nearly four million cattle.

About 130 people have died from a human variant of B.S.E., believed to be acquired from eating infected meat.

NYTimes May 26

{and here's some statistics, to compare the 130 people who've died from BSE, or the 600+ who've died from SARS:

There is a death caused by a motor vehicle crash every 12 minutes; there is a disabling injury every 14 seconds.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people ages 1 to 33.

The age groups most affected by motor vehicle crashes are 15-24 and 75+.

There were an estimated 5,800 pedestrian deaths and 90,000 injuries.

Walking in the roadway accounted for only 9% of all pedestrian deaths and injuries.

About 3 in every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related traffic accident at some time in their lives.

Bicycling resulted in about 800 deaths in collisions with motor vehicles.

National Safety Council Report on Injuries in America, 2001

bicycling. in the year 2000. in the US. 800 people. so maybe 2001 and 2002 weren't so bad. maybe only 700 in those years. so what's that? 2200 people in three years? it's more than that but still. call it 2000. from bicycle/motor vehicle collisions. 130 from Mad Cow. not quite 700 from SARS.
maybe what we're really afraid of is something else.}

{and here's your total terror information awareness

I go out after this post and start dinner, and on my way back here, timed perfectly as I pass through the living room where my mom's watching the tube, is a Scientology-vibe PSA:

more than 2*00 children die each year from car accidents, dark visuals of parent cinching seat belt on kid, stark graphics, fade out, fade in,more than 6,000 die each year from second-hand smoke, more dark visuals of kid in seat belts, then holding shot of long-haired cult-member/mother smoking, fade, stark visuals, 'What are you protecting them from?'

how strange that a cause of death in children 3 times greater than traffic fatalities has completely escaped the notice of the National Safety Council.}

...WASHINGTON--Oct. 23, 2002--In a letter published today in the nation's leading medical journal, AAA noted that a prominent study on the health issues of Latino children failed to mention the number one public health threat to this population -- car crashes.

The AutoChannel 10/23/02