From:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow/times21604.cfm

---------------
How common CJD in its various forms is in the United States is unclear. Some medical experts
believe that the incidence of CJD in the U.S. population is much higher than the commonly
assumed 1 per million. A 1989 study at the University of Pittsburgh examined the case histories of
54 demented patients who, upon their death, were autopsied at the University of Pittsburgh. The
study discovered that 39 (72 percent) of the patients had Alzheimer's; 15 (27.7 percent) had
central nervous system disorders; and three (5.5 percent) had CJD. The researchers concluded that
the three cases of CJD turned up in their study "had a much longer course than is usually seen
with that condition and failed [when the patient was alive] to show the usual EEG abnormalities." In
other words, the CJD cases discovered in Pittsburgh exhibited symptoms that were more
compatible with Alzheimer's disease than classical CJD.

A 1989 Yale University study reported similar findings. Postmortem examination of 46 patients
diagnosed with Alzheimer's revealed that six (13 percent) actually had CJD.

The Pittsburgh and Yale studies point to the possibility that some of the 4 million people in the
United States suffering form Alzheimer's may actually be infected with the agent that causes CJD.
And that raises this question: Has an unrecognized from of BSE infected U.S. cattle and entered
the human food chain?
-----------------
Incientally, I reckon North Americans eat way too much of their red meat as beef.  More goat meat
is eaten worldwide than any other red meat.  I cycle through beef, lamb and goat for around half
my red meat and kangaroo / rabbit / hare (all wild) for the other half. No pig. I also eat eggs,
chicken and fish, so I give my digestion plenty of variation.

Keith