Could Mad-For-It Northern Clubbers Have CJD-

Shocking new data about the spread of Mad Cow Disease (variant CJD or human BSE) has revealed that British northerners are much more likely than southerners to have contracted the fatal illness. According to reports on BBC Radio this week, people from the North and Scotland are twice as likely to be incubating the CJD infection as southerners, possibly due to higher consumption of cheap meat pies and sausages. Such traditionally popular Northern foods are thought to be involved in CJD transmission, since many contained mechanically recovered meat, the slurry-like ingredient thought to have spread the disease to humans. The danger period for infection was the whole of the 80s and the early 90s when hundreds of thousands of BSE infected cows entered the UK food chain. Over 800,000 such animals were turned into food, the Guardian said this week, meaning the average Briton has eaten 50 meals containing meat from a BSE infected cow.

The BSE crisis remains potentially catastrophic for Britain with scientists still reporting that up to 10million Brits could go on to develop the disease. Although just 106 cases of Mad Cow Disease (variant CJD) have so far been identified in humans, its long incubation period means scientists still have no idea of the true threat posed. The impact of millions of clubbers' brains being destroyed by cheap burgers could prove devastating for the future of clubland.

<http://www.mad-cow.org> (the official mad cow home page)

Jonty Adderley
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