Show Davis Standard Tuesday January 26 1999 SPOTUGHT: HEALTH 3 Syracuse gets Davis man in ‘mad cow’ debate new councilman Case shows how confusing and controversial the subject can be The Associated Six percent - Doug McEwen’s in the summer of 1998 so benign you would have sworn it was just a touch of forgetfulness Now six months later McEwen and his wife Trade find themselves in the center of a national debate about “mad cow” disease and the government's role in preventing it Tracie McEwen also finds herself fadng tough dedsions as dueling scientists lobby to be the recipient of her husband's brain once he dies In early January Tracie McEwen joined several activist groups - including the Center for Food Safety and the Center for Media and Democracy - as a petitioner in two legal actions demanding changes in the way the government monitors and prevents mad cow disease and related disorders including a human version known as CJD short for Creutzfeldt-Jako- b disease “Terminally ill Utah hunter age 30 could be the first victim of US ‘mad deer’ disease” read the headline of a press release issued last week from the Center for Food Safety in Washington DC Controversial case Like everything surrounding mad cow disease and its medical cousins the case of Doug McEwen reveals how confusing controversial and provocative the subject is The issues are further confounded by a string of initials and disease names: CJD CWD BSE TSE mad cow mad deer What they have in common is a set of similar and terrifying neurological symptoms brain tissue that looks like sponge (hence the term “spongiform encephalopathy” the medical term for the diseases) and a disease course that ends always in death The disease can incubate for decades before symptoms appear Diagnosis is difficult and reporting of the disease has been lax so it’s not even clear how many cases of CJD there are in the United States Perhaps most frightening the disease agent - a deviant form of protein called a prion -can’t be killed by radiation freezing or sterilization In England a “new variant” form of CJD has been linked to bovine spongiform encephalopathy also known as mad cow disease So far 40 people have been diagnosed with BSE which many scientists believe came from eating British beef Investigation correspondent KAYSVILLE - Now that problems with drainage in a west Kaysville subdivision have been solved developer John Adams will be able to begin his project in the area Two weeks ago the city council tabled the final approval of the Pheasant Run Ouster Subdivision plat because of concerns about the drainage in an adjacent subdivision Adams wants to get started on the development of a subdivision il? - open-and-sh- ut pWovAise oh 1 Are?u whs We e'-- on ckowFev Frews vJe FFv-e- ©UT er Mobile Professional and Sound System Kareokee “I think they have solved the drainage problem” said Councilman Arthur Johnson who made a motion to approve the eight-lo- t cluster subdivision on Old Mill Lane Hve Isles Aovys oP wtove BUSINESS ©IF “I went down there after the rain last weekend and there were no water puddles in the backyards It is apparently working well” Thompson said Sofas $198 Chest $59 Banana Chairs $37 (801) EZJ 775-968- 8 'CKIf" j sun “ ’ (801) 7 nts Aston Poipu Kai PPDBL 7ntsRolwaikotoan ErowuFUer nu- - J ROUND TRIP AIR TO HONOLULU FROM SLC SAVE UP TO ajr only TUESOAY ONLY FROM PER PERSON -- MnwoaiRH 3 NIGHTS MAZATLAN Resort MazaBan HoSday km Sunspree Vision of L0SCABOS Sii9M 9 9 He Seas 210 3a 324 414 — from 499 $1099 Cruise Only Howard 469 Johnson 25 219-31- 9 25 I PPDBL From Funjof Vacations 479“ Resort 220-22- CANCUN iMoor Hcfelay m&H Inn Pnowan Bountiful 295-944- 3 I 5 NIGHTS $(53© y Brigham City Lynn Banco 723-162- Open-W-- j $ 5 nights hotel accommodations Airfare from SLC to LAX (Wed departures) 3 day Flex Passport to Disneytand One tarty Admission to Disneyland Quad occupancy 2 adults2 children and Boyne Valley Avondale House Powerscourt Gardens 9 Vabdfor departures 124-32- 1 yo from 44-10Valid tor departures Express 27 MW 500 So PACKAGE in Dublin land only 6 days5 nights deluxe accommodations 5 full Insh breakfasts and 2 dinners 219-3199- 9 Los Tuies ud ran parpaiuflfcaM departures DELUXE PUERTO VALLARTA 5 BlgMi Court 7 nght atlhe Outngger Maite Sky Round tup ar from Salt Lake City transfers Tuesday departures Airport from $499 VaM for departures kom $579 216-33Valid tor msmsssi 7 NIGHT CRUISE Caribbean Majesty of the Seas Monarch of the Seas Grandeurofthe Seas PRINCESS CRUISES - DBfCyiAM) OAHU PACKAGE to Alaska 14 different discounted Princess cruises Ask your agent for details on one of 1999 Morris has departures from May thru September 41 bJoUchfree SKTSS i7SunTrIps- nz Discounts end 21499 Save up to $1800 per person on 11 night cruises tours Save up to $1200 per person on cruise Banyan Aston at the PPDBL Land only 899 Valtf 7 Nights 1 bedlbath VaM from $469 Air wily to Maui Kauat Kona or Molokai 7 night round fop air only to Oahu 316-33- 0 flights surcharges 216-3- 9 Holiday or Selected Tuesday departures PER PERSON OFF BROCHURE RATES sss411 to laorty ESS 546-460- 0 iu Efcrly Booking as447sas496 Mattress $59 WeJAveseevY FF L Airfare iitional 7 niqhts Outrigger Village Land only included in price Standard room category taxes Hotel 9 Valid for travel BIG ISLAND Lamps $19 Chairs $29 DJ Guaranteed Lowest Prices Contact Paul Mitchell h Curios $198 Dining $198 Pictures $19 ± tWJ- ( FARMINGTON - Newly named: Roger B Anderson has elected Davis County Sheriff been assigned to the administraBud Cox has released a list of tive division and Curtis W commanders that will make up Johnson will oversee the his administration division Cox has appointed two chief Captains Jan Cunningham deputies to work directly under jail commander and Colin him: Kevin A McLeod and JaHart civildetective division cob R Hunt McLeod will overwill retain their positions see all operations and Hunt will Debbie Russell has been supervise administration hired to be Cox’s new adminisTwo new captains have been trative assistant 1 KlUTrtfrlrfHTtj - TPV Sheriff lists administration FamVyDOCTORi 7 NIGHTS OUTRIGGER VILLAGE nama Canal one-yea- that problem was solved Lod-dinstalled a drain in his own subdivision PiHrtOly wv?uAe IF Fo LC We under way deer-feedin- Subdivision drainage problem solved - Standard-Examin- SYRACUSE - Angelo Con-tin- o was recently appointed as a city council member to replace CONTINO He David Benard who resigned moved to the last month community Contino just moved to the with his family community with his family four four months months ago and said he has a ago strong commitment to preservflavor that ing the small-tow- n degree in mechanical engineerdrew him here in the first place ing He also holds an MBA “I think it’s a tremedous challenge to balance growth and from the University of Connecticut He currently works at envpreserve the small-tow- n Corporation in Ogironment" said Contino This is his first experience in public den as the vice president of service although he said his corporate quality systems business background will help r Contino will serve a him in many aspects of the job term until the next election when voters will fill three va“Just like in business decisions are made for the overall cancies on the council Benard good of the city" he said “and had served just over a year of his initial four-yea- r term when hopefully people will underhe resigned because of church stand why a decision was made even if they don’t agree” responsibilities Contino is orginally from upContino was selected by the state New York where he atmayor and existing council tended school and received a members from seven applicants The Utah Department of Health is investigating McEwen’s illness as well as the seven other cases of CJD in Utah in 1998 “There is nothing right now to link his illness to eating wild meat" or handling wild meat says epidemiologist Gerrie Dowdle manager of the department's communicable disease control program To suggest that Doug’s diet may have caused his disease is “purely assumption" says Dowdle “We haven't heard of any cases of humans getting it from elk or deer That’s not to say it's not possible" she adds At the Center for Food Safety Ronnie Cummings’ theory is that the disease was g spread to deer at central stations through deer feed that includes rendered animal protein - that is ground up meat that might have come from other diseased animals According to Utah state veterinarian Michael Marshall animal health officials in Utah are “monitoring carefully" for chronic wasting disease at privately owned elk farms “and have found no occurrence whatsoever" In addition some 1 50 Utah deer brains have been collected and sent to the state veterinary diagnostic laboratory at Utah State University So far all 80 tested have proved negative he says Doug McEwen’s brain may provide some answers about CJD and perhaps even its connection to “mad deer” disease And that means that several different laboratories will be vying to get their gloved hands on his brain once he dies But Tracie McEwen isn’t sure she wants to give her husband's brain away An autopsy would not only mean no open casket it would also mean Doug might not be embalmed Doug McEwen continues to get worse almost daily He has to work hard to remember how to use the stairs His speech has become garbled he has begun having seizures and has become incontinent He will often withdraw from his family Sharon refusing to even look at when she climbs on his lap “This is the worst thing I have ever seen” says Tracie McEwen “I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy” Familiar symptoms on his land at the end of Old Mill Lane but the city council had slowed him down because of the water problems on neighboring land even though city engineer Andy Thompson said the proposed subdivision would not affect the drainage or change the way the water was drained from the land Councilman Reed Nelson said there is a drainage problem in Cort Lodder’s subdivision which borders Adams’ land and it needed to be solved During the past two weeks Standard- - Examiner correspondent carcasses Elbe's symptoms sounded familiar “When we got to the neurologist the next day I still remember him saying ‘I know what you are worrying about but he is too young and this disease is too rare’ ” Tracie recalls in a letter posted on CJD Voice a Web site for family members of people with the disease CJD generally shows up in people older than 50 When testing of McEwen pointed to the possibility that it was CJD doctors decided to send tissue of McEwen's brain to researchers in Ohio The biopsy confirmed the CJD diagnosis Currently scientists at the National Institutes of Health are testing Doug’s DNA to determine if he has a genetic flaw that caused the disease Ten percent of CJD cases are believed to be inherited If Doug falls into this category his disease will be an case But if he didn’t inherit the mutated gene Unclear link the case gets murkier ' The link between human "disease and Eating infected meat is known to be one “mad deer” disease r that is betweifiCJD " " cause ’ and CWD (chronic wasting disease) - is According to Tracie McEwen Doug has even more unclear been eating deer elk and antelope since he ByRUTHMALAN By JANA DEARDEN was a little boy as a couple they ate game two or three times a month in the fall and winter As a hunter he also handled deer in northeastern Colorado and southeastern Wyoming have been found to have chronic wasting disease If it turns out that Doug McEwen has a form of CJD similar to this “mad deer” disease his would be the first confirmed case “If there’s going to be a canary in the coal mine” says one researcher “it will be McEwen” But it may take years to find out Doug McEwen was 29 when he developed his first vague symptoms of CJD Tracie would call Doug at work and tell him to bring home some milk and he’d forget to do it and then say he didn’t even remember her call That was in early July last year Then in late July Doug went to Idaho on a business trip As usual Doug would call home every night to tell Tracie and their two daughters good night One night though Tracie didn’t get a call till 1 1 “I couldn’t remember our phone number” Doug told her “Why didn’t you call directory assistance?" she asked “I can’t remember how to spell my last name” he said By August when he decided to quit his job he couldn't write the letter of resignation because he couldn't remember how to turn on the computer At first his doctor suspected depression or stress and Doug was sent to a psychiatrist In on the eve of Doug’s first appointment with a neurologist the McEwens happened to see Kearns resident Mel Steiger being interviewed on television about his wife Ellie who died of CJD last March Press KAYSVILLE of deer F 2 Layton 198S H HUtfield 774-808- M5 2thStrrt 394-266- 4 tc 6 Sat 10to2 ' 7 tfOKRlS ( ra u ?o |