|
(NaturalNews) A new study of members of New Guinea's Fore tribe suggest that more people may die from past mad cow disease outbreaks. The study shows that tribe members who contracted a similar disease to mad cow through cannibalism may have lived for decades before finally succumbing. This leads some scientists to question if additional mad cow deaths could show up long after intial reports of the disease were made.
Until the 1960s, the Fore tribe practiced ritualistic cannibalism and many contracted kuru, a disease caused by misfolded prion proteins in the brain. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease occurs when people consume brain tissue from cows infected with mad cow disease, and works in much the same way.
In the study, authors recorded the age of death and genetic makeup of 11 members of the Fore tribe who died of kuru between 1996 and 2004. All eleven members were born prior to the 1950s when the Australian government outlawed the tribe's practice of honoring their dead by eating them at mortuary feasts.
Researchers noted that some infected members of the tribe were able to live for years without any symptoms of kuru, and found that the disease can incubate for up to 56 years before causing a rapid descent into dementia and death. The study authors theorize that some people infected with mad cow disease may also be able to live long lives before succumbing to the disease.
However, many experts disagree with this assumption. As a human disease, kuru is more likely to infect people than mad cow disease. Also, cannibals in the Fore tribe had direct contact with infected brain tissue, while most people who eat beef do not consume brain matter.
###
Related Articles
• Mad cow madness: USDA lies and the coming collapse of the U.S. beef industry
• USDA downplays seriousness of mad cow disease found in Alabama cow
• Shocking New Evidence Shows Mad Cow Disease Prions Can Be Harbored In Humans For Decades Without Symptoms
• Mad cow disease research breakthrough: scientists recreate prions in the lab
• The Energetic Contamination of Beef Products (Transcript)
 |
Additional Resources:
mad cow
mad cow disease
brain tissue
|
Take Action: Support NaturalNews.com
 Email this article to a friend
 Share this article on: NewsVine | digg | del.icio.us
Permalink to this article: http://www.NaturalNews.com/019460.html
Reprinting this article: Non-commercial OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link.
|
 |
 |
Receive our Natural Health Newsletter for FREE
 Subscribe now (it's free!) to win. We randomly choose a subscriber each month to send $100 in eco-home products or a RealGoods.com gift certificate (our choice). Plus, you'll receive FREE news, articles and action alerts from NaturalNews.com editors and join over 800,000 monthly readers who report extraordinary health improvements after becoming a subscriber!
- Receive breaking news alerts on natural health solutions, renewable energy, the environment, global warming and more.
- Receive a free instant download of our $29 Secret Sources guide that reveals top sources for little-known health and diet solutions.
|
|
 |
 |
Recommended Special Report:
 Seven Words that can Change the World
by Joseph R. Simonetta
Read this special report now...
"Seven Words That Can Change the World reveals the astonishing, simple truths that have the power to forever transform our world for the better while freeing our minds from the enslavement of limiting beliefs. This is not a text for the simple-minded; it is a guiding philosophy for the mindful, intelligent few who are wise enough to seek out -- and recognize -- the higher simplicities of truly purposeful living." - Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, editor of NaturalNews.com
|
More on NaturalNews.com:
• Streaming Health Ranger Videos
• CounterThink Cartoons
• FREE Special Reports
• Podcasts
|
 |
|
Printable Version
