Deadly Feasts: Tracking the Secrets of a Terrifying New Plague

Deadly Feasts opens up with an absolutely riveting account of the kuru disease devastating the cannibal Fore in New Guinea. Turns out kuru is a prion based Spongiform Encephalopathy (SE) disease spread by cannibalism.

Author then proceeds to methodically show how kuru is functionally the same thing as Mad Cow, and SE diseases found in sheep, mink, pigs etc. And the spread is functionally the same: cannibalism. The meat industry in an effort to save costs feeds vegetarian animals ground up meat/brain materials from slaughtered animals not fit to sell to humans.

And the scary thing with these SE ‘s is they can bridge species boundaries very easily. Furthermore, even scarier is vegetarians could be at risk if an animal infected with a prion disease defecates on vegetables or fruits.

Author points out there really are only two solutions to this problem: stop eating meat or wipe out the existing herds and stop feeding vegetarian animals downed animals in order to save money.

Although it opens with a bang, the book does bog down in many places but is well worth a read. Author is clearly a lefty and throws in one gratuitous and completely unnecessary shot at the Newt Congress in the 90’s. But this can be overlooked given the overall excellent content of the book. Well worth the read (especially if you are still eating meat). ( )

A fast-paced tale of the discovery of fatal prion diseases, beginning with the 1950s-1960s outbreak of kuru in New Guinea, transmitted through cannibalism; Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease, which occurs throughout the world; scrapie in sheep; and finally, Mad Cow Disease (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) in England, beginning in1985, or as Richard Rhodes puts it, "Meat Bites Back." ( )

A bit on the alarmist side, but a good read with lots of great information on the inner workings of big-time science and the discovery of an all-new type of communicable disease. ( )

Intresting connection between different species diseases.

Scary, but good read.

Super awesome- I hate reading and even I liked it!

Rhodes tracks the entire history of TSEs (transmissable spongiform encephalopathies) through the researchers who studied and solved many of their puzzles. The outcome is accessible science, a clever mystery, international muckraking, and a warning. Everyone now knows of the political decisions which helped the spread of AIDs, particularly the failure to protect the blood supply in America and France. It shouldn't be surprising then, to learn how footdragging contributed to cases of TSEs in America and Britain.
Perhaps the most upsetting news for readers isn't that the TSEs are easily spread and 100% fatal--it's knowing that all the medical breakthroughs won't save us if no one will act on the knowledge. ( )