WARSAW - The first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was discovered in Poland this week. A nine-year-old cow was diagnosed in a slaughterhouse.
BSE is thought to cause the human variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), which causes proteins to self-destruct and makes millions of sponge-like holes in the brain. Death is certain generally one year after symptoms of the disease surface.
Poland, which reportedly has been considered a low-risk country for BSE, will join the European Union in two years. Yet the organization's commission wrote that Poland officials will need to enforce existing precautions to prevent tainted beef from potentially leaving the country. Currently, Polish officials check all cattle 30-months-old and older.
More than 100 people in Europe, predominantly from the United Kingdom, have died of vCJD in the past five years.
The infected cow, discovered six miles from the Slovak border in Mochnaczka Wyzna, will be destroyed, along with three others. This is the first detected cow in more than 100,000 cattle that have been tested for the disease.
Information from www.reuters.com
Beyond the Surface: Rethinking Environmental Hygiene Validation at Exchange25
June 30th 2025Environmental hygiene is about more than just shiny surfaces. At Exchange25, infection prevention experts urged the field to look deeper, rethink blame, and validate cleaning efforts across the entire care environment, not just EVS tasks.
A Controversial Reboot: New Vaccine Panel Faces Scrutiny, Support, and Sharp Divides
June 26th 2025As the newly appointed Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met for the first time under sweeping changes by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the national spotlight turned to the panel’s legitimacy, vaccine guidance, and whether science or ideology would steer public health policy in a polarized era.
Getting Down and Dirty With PPE: Presentations at HSPA by Jill Holdsworth and Katie Belski
June 26th 2025In the heart of the hospital, decontamination technicians tackle one of health care’s dirtiest—and most vital—jobs. At HSPA 2025, 6 packed workshops led by experts Jill Holdsworth and Katie Belski spotlighted the crucial, often-overlooked art of PPE removal. The message was clear: proper doffing saves lives, starting with your own.