Talk:Feline spongiform encephalopathy
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[edit] Historic testimony?
The FSE epidemic in the late 20th century can be tied to the BSE epidemic via pet food. But SEs have been around for longer, albeit sporadically. In that respect, the Libro de Cozina of Ruperto de Nola (1529) has an interesiting bit of folk wisdom in its recipe for BBQ cat:
Take a cat that should be plump: and cut its throat, and once it is dead cut off its head, and throw it away for this is not to be eaten; for it is said that he who eats the brains will lose his own sense and judgement.
Of course there are other reasons for believing that cat brain will make you nuts; cats have been associated with witchcraft etc. for whatever reason and are generally held to be mischievous critters by the superstitious. Moreover the text is of course not proof of anything. Still, it is a tantalizing glimpse, and it tests yet does not falsify the theory that cat-to-human FSE transmission is possible: there was a correlation between consumption of significant amounts of cat brain and losing one's "sense and judgement" recognizable to 1500s folk wisdom. Whether this is due to coincidence or causality is not determinable. Dysmorodrepanis (talk) 21:17, 30 May 2008 (UTC)
