FORGET the BEEF

Back in the 80's Wendys' had this clever commercial with this short old lady with a gruffy voice yelling "Where's the beef!?" It made for a good BBQ invite.....

Well, I tell you, stop the beef:
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"Mad cow disease is the common term for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), an invariably fatal disease that slowly destroys the nervous system in cattle. Scientists believe the disease is caused by a protein called a prion that occurs naturally in the brains of animals and people. Normally, prions are harmless, but when they're misshapen — something that can happen when a process called protein folding goes awry — they can cause devastating illness......

The first indications of the disease are psychiatric — personality changes, memory loss and impaired judgment. People with vCJD eventually develop dementia, which robs them of the ability to speak, think, remember or care for themselves. Problems with balance and coordination also are common, leading to falls and difficulty walking.
Although it seems to take years or even decades for signs and symptoms of vCJD to appear, once they do develop, people with the disease rarely live more than 12 to 14 months. The cause of death usually isn't the disease itself but a complication such as infection or heart or respiratory problems.
Are certain types of beef or cuts of beef safer than others?
The chances of eating infected beef are very low — even in countries with a relatively high rate of mad cow disease, such as the United Kingdom, Portugal, France, Spain and Germany. Still, the meats most likely to contain prions include hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages and luncheon meats because they generally contain meat from different parts of the animal. The parts of cows that have the highest risk of carrying prions include the bone marrow, brain, spinal cord, eyes and small intestine. Cuts of beef muscle or whole muscle meats appear to be FREE OF THE PRIONS that can lead to vCJD......

What if my dog or cat eats pet food made with mad-cow-infected beef?
Several species can get diseases related to BSE and vCJD, including goats, sheep, mink, deer, elk and cats. Dogs don't appear to get this type of disease. Still, because cats and dogs often eat food that contains ground-up scraps of animals, including cows, your anxiety over your pet's health is reasonable."..........
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mad-cow-disease/ID00012