Patients’ vCJD risk ’substantial’ (BBC News) Experts say patients given blood contaminated with the human form of mad cow disease face substantial risk. [News Source]

Mad cow disease: Blood transfusion fears grow after 3rd case (AFP via Yahoo! News) Fears that mad cow disease could be transmitted through blood banks are gaining ground after British doctors reported the death of a third individual who was infected with the prion pathogen via a blood transfusion, The Lancet says. [News Source]

Gene silencing fights mad cow disease (New Scientist) A type of gene silencing known as RNA interference slows the progression of prion disease in mice by more than 30% [News Source]

Should people be tested for mad cow disease? (New Scientist) Would you want to know if you were a carrier of vCJD - the human form of BSE - even though there is currently no cure? [News Source]

U.S., Korea trade talks snag on U.S. anti-dumping laws. Struggling free trade talks between the United States and its longtime ally South Korea hit a new snag on Wednesday over U.S. anti-dumping laws, which Seoul believes are unfairly applied to its products. [News Source]

Koreans block beef shipment from Des Moines firm. South Korea has suspended imports from a Des Moines meat processor after finding bone fragments in a shipment of beef. [News Source]

Human mad-cow case confirmed. A third case of variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease, also known as the human form of "mad cow" disease, has been confirmed in a Saudi Arabian-born U.S. citizen now living in Virginia. [News Source]

Third U.S. human ‘mad cow’ case reported in Virginia, CDC says. A Saudi-born man living in Virginia has been identified as the third reported U.S. case of a human form of mad cow disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [News Source]