Ken Davey wrote:
>
> There is every reason to believe (as some research is suggesting)
> that it can arise spontainiously.
> Time will tell as new discoveries are made in this field .
> The statement "We're in the early stages of an epidemic..." is totally
> without basis in fact!

There's a much stronger basis for saying that than
to try to paint this as something that's always been
around at a low level, as you attempted to do.

For example, the first case of Mad Cow Disease
in North America was found in 1993 in Canada
in a cow imported from England. And the first
case of Mad Cow Disease in the U.S. was discovered
in a cow imported from Canada. There is a clear
timeline of the introduction and spread of this
dread disease.

As the USDA's own panel of experts said in their
1994 report:

"At some point in the past, targeting based on
the location of cattle imported from Europe
and other BSE risk countries, their points of
slaughter and rendering and subsequent
consumption in cattle feed was theoretically
possible. However, with the passage of time
since the importations and the amplification
of the agent within North America, this
approach is no longer appropriate."

You can read the whole report he
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues...BSE_Report.pdf

What that means is that the infectious agent
was introduced from a BSE-risk country, and
that the agent has spread (amplified) within
North American heards. This is a growing
problem, and we are in the early stages of it.