ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 18, 1996 TAG: 9604180054
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: What's on your mind?
SOURCE: RAY REED
Q: The mad cow disease that is affecting beef in Britain led me to wonder if cooking would kill the germ, as it does other germs in meat such as salmonella and E. coli.
C.D., Blue Ridge
A: Very little is known about the mad cow disease, and that's why it scares some people and inspires wisecracks from others.
One of the leading scientists in Britain says cooking is not the answer, though.
In a briefing document for scientists, communicable disease consultant Mike Painter referred to the disease's cause not as a germ but an "agent."
One school of thought holds the agent is a new form of protein. Another school says it's a virus.
Either way, Painter says, it has proved resistant to normal cooking temperatures, ultraviolet light and some chemicals.
We can joke about mad cows in America because the United States banned imports of British beef in 1989, shortly after the disease's presence in cattle was noted.
The illness first showed up in humans in 1994 and to date 10 people have been diagnosed in England.
It took until last month for doctors and scientists to conclude that this human sickness is a new form of a rare illness called Cruetzfeld-Jacob disease, which affects one person in a million in Britain.
Their best guess is that mad cow disease was caused by eating beef from infected animals. Holes form in the brain of victims, much as they are present inside a sponge.
Painter said he isn't afraid to eat beef in England even now. Controls placed on meat processing since 1989 have reduced the risk of any brain and central nerve tissue becoming mixed with muscle, which is not affected by the disease.
Overpass on list
Q: A sore spot for me is the Norfolk Southern railroad track on Hollins Road Northeast where I wait for what seems like an hour while 300 cars go by, and then another train starts before that one finishes. Everywhere else they're building overpasses. Why can't they make us a road into Southeast?| |J.S., Roanoke A: "They" are Roanoke and the Virginia Department of Transportation, and they have a plan to end the waiting for trains here.
The early sketch calls for a bridge that would connect Hollins Road Northeast, near the city-county garbage transfer station, to 13th Street Southeast at Jamison Avenue.
Roanoke wrote VDOT this year to say this project remains on the city's priority list for road funds, although construction is more than six years away.
Hershberger cleanup
The Hershberger Road-Interstate 581 exit is due for a cleaning this weekend.
The Litton Fibercom Employee Association adopted the much-littered site this year and plans to pick up the trash every two months - instead of the four-times-a-year minimum under the Adopt-A-Highway program, said Lana Ordway, president of the group.
Have a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Or, e-mail RoatimesInfi.Net. Maybe we can find the answer.
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