“It’s so nice to sit down to a meal and not have to worry what it died from,” some vegetarians joke when asked to explain the reasons for their diet. Certainly disease is prevalent among food animals. It is the common practice among livestock raisers to send the sick animals to market before they become unvaluable corpses.
Even when inspectors do examine the meat, the processing plant often cuts off and discards the diseased portion and then prepares the rest of the costly carcass for human consumption. But animals have no isolated areas, for the blood and lymph move freely throughout the entire body.
Fortunately, plant diseases do not infect man, but many of the animal diseases pass directly to man our limited space will permit a discussion of only a few diseases.
Brucellosis. “Brucellosis (Malta fever, undulant fever, Bang’s disease) is one of the most common diseases, transmitted from animals to man it may resemble the flu, with such symptoms as headache, fatigue, chills, sweat and loss of weight “People contract the disease primarily by using unpasteurized milk and through direct contact with infested cattle, pigs or goats.”- Today’s Health Guide 11968). PD . 524. 525.
Trichinosis. Victims most often acquire trichinosis by consuming raw or insufficiently cooked pork infected with tiny worms called trichinae. After a person has eaten the infected pork, the male and female worms produce larvae which migrate through the bloodstream and eventually lodge in the muscle tissues, especially the diaphragm.
“Irritation produced by the activity of the worms in the intestines causes nausea. vomiting and diarrhea. The hundreds of parasites traveling through the body, make the patient sick with fever, headache and prostration, sometimes lasting for several months.”- Trichinosis. U.S. Dept. of Health Education and Welfare, Health Information Series No. 47 i1966).The Biblical food laws forbid the eating of pork in Leviticus 11~7.
Cancer. Since 1956 scientific research began to indicate that viruses do cause malignant tumors. Most scientists researching in the area agree that cancer viruses can be transmitted from animal to animal. But they have not done enough experimentation yet to determine whether animal cancer viruses infect humans or not. And, naturally, you can’t do research on human beings when it could involve inflicting a disease for which we have no certain cure. The list of diseases common to both animals and man is already extensive, and it grows larger every year. But the vegetarian can enjoy his meal. Unconcerned about the increasing disease among food animals.
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