# How worried should we be? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 28, 2008, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-worried-should-we-be/435299 "2008-01-28T10:38:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-worried-should-we-be/435299/1 "2008-01-28T10:38:15Z")
I read [News of the Weird](http://www.newsoftheweird.com/archive/index.html) every week. Most of the time it’s just funny little stories, but this one isn’t funny, it’s a bit scary. > [@](#): > > Noxious Substances: State and federal authorities descended on Quality Pork Processors of Austin, Minn., in December after 11 workers contracted a mysterious neurological illness, which apparently came from inhaling the mist that results from blowing hogs’ brains out with compressed air. [Tampa Tribune-AP, 12-8-07] I know there is a hog form of mad cow disease. Why isn’t this story all over the news? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-worried-should-we-be/435299/2 "2008-01-28T11:45:30Z")
I think there was a thread on it a few months back - As I understand it, the problem here was that these people were inhaling aerosolised brains at a far higher level and duration of exposure than normal, making the occurrence of illness somewhat less than surprising. ---
**Author:** ![Sprockets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@Sprockets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sprockets)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-worried-should-we-be/435299/3 "2008-01-28T12:05:43Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I. . . inhaling aerosolised brains. . . [/QUOTE] There’s a phrase that should never happen. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-worried-should-we-be/435299/4 "2008-01-28T13:34:39Z")
A few weeks ago, the same thing happened in a pork packing plant in Delphi, Indiana. I’m rather confused about the nature of the illness. Did the workers get a neurological illness the hogs had? Supposedly, pigs can’t get Mad Cow/Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy/BSE, so what is this illness? Workers in the kill rooms of at least three pork packing plants have gotten sick from the same thing. Have the rest of the nation’s plants done anything to prevent it? ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-worried-should-we-be/435299/5 "2008-01-28T13:43:32Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] A few weeks ago, the same thing happened in a pork packing plant in Delphi, Indiana. I’m rather confused about the nature of the illness. Did the workers get a neurological illness the hogs had? Supposedly, pigs can’t get Mad Cow/Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy/BSE, so what is this illness? Workers in the kill rooms of at least three pork packing plants have gotten sick from the same thing. Have the rest of the nation’s plants done anything to prevent it? [/QUOTE] No one quite knows what the illness is. Link to article from the StarTribune. [http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/13849237.html](http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/13849237.html) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-worried-should-we-be/435299/6 "2008-01-28T13:45:59Z")
[QUOTE=Sprockets] There’s a phrase that should never happen. [/QUOTE] Unless maybe you’re developing a room fragrance and your target market is the undead. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-worried-should-we-be/435299/7 "2008-01-28T14:08:11Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] aerosolised brains [/QUOTE] band name! ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-worried-should-we-be/435299/8 "2008-01-28T15:10:13Z")
Alternatively: It could also be something external to the pigs, like a chemical used near the compressor intakes so that they inhale a lot of the chemical over time. Something like the specific make of gun might have a chemical that leaches out of the materials of the gun they are using. Maybe it’s a suit they all wear that the other’s don’t. The sick ones could all be doing a home remedy that is supposed to keep you from heaving when your smell the room. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-worried-should-we-be/435299/9 "2008-01-28T17:21:09Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] A few weeks ago, the same thing happened in a pork packing plant in Delphi, Indiana. I’m rather confused about the nature of the illness. Did the workers get a neurological illness the hogs had? Supposedly, pigs can’t get Mad Cow/Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy/BSE, so what is this illness? Workers in the kill rooms of at least three pork packing plants have gotten sick from the same thing. Have the rest of the nation’s plants done anything to prevent it? [/QUOTE] The (possible) human equivalent is [Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease](http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/cjd/cjd.htm). There is no _proven_ link, but the diseases are similar. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-worried-should-we-be/435299/10 "2008-01-28T19:03:30Z")
This is from **fisha** ’s link: [QUOTE=StarTribune] She said that, like the 12 workers at the Quality Pork Processors (QPP) plant in Austin, those in Indiana were using a powerful air compression system to remove brains from pig heads at what is known in the industry as the head table. Blood and brain tissue gets sprayed into the air. The Indiana workers also have symptoms like those reported among workers at the Austin plant – tingling and numbness in their arms and legs and fatigue. … In December, health officials first said workers appeared to have a very rare but debilitating disease called chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), which occurs in about 2 out of every 100,000 people. … Health officials said they have ruled out chemical toxins as the possible source of the problem. [/QUOTE] I can’t quote the whole thing here. It answers several questions, but brings up a few more. “What do you do at the piggy plant, Daddy?” “I blow their brains out, Lewis.” ---
**Author:** ![Sprockets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@Sprockets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sprockets)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-worried-should-we-be/435299/11 "2008-01-28T19:23:33Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Unless maybe you’re developing a room fragrance and your target market is the undead. [/QUOTE] Excellent idea. I would think the undead would be as interested in room fragrance as the rest of us. They already have their own music and TV shows, as well as their own political party. Why not fragrance? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-worried-should-we-be/435299/12 "2008-01-28T19:55:11Z")
Don’t they wear masks? I blew that pig’s mind. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-worried-should-we-be/435299/13 "2008-01-28T21:29:20Z")
At the local Chinese Super-88, I saw ‘pigs brains’ for sale. Next time I want to aerosolize them I’ll reconsider. ---
**Author:** ![Amblydoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Amblydoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amblydoper)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-worried-should-we-be/435299/14 "2008-01-29T07:27:57Z")
When I die, I Sooo wanna be Aerosolized! ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-worried-should-we-be/435299/15 "2008-01-29T09:54:53Z")
In as much as this is disturbing news, don’t prion based brain wasting diseases have incubation periods on the order of decades? This [article](http://www.health.state.mn.us/news/pressrel/qpp120307.html) describes it as chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_inflammatory_demyelinating_polyneuropathy) , the pathologic hallmark of the disease is loss of the myelin sheath of the peripheral nerves. I know absolutely nothing about neurological disease, but this sounds nothing like mad cow disease. I ran into a friend who I hadn’t seen in 10 years, and he said that he had a similar disease that caused demyelinating of the neural sheath and that he couldn’t even masturbate (in his marvelously eloquent fashion). I think he did some sort of steroid therapy and is fine now. I’m sure someone who actually has some expertise will wander by, but the fixation on mad cow disease seems premature.