Collagen is the main protein of the connective tissue of animals. It is exclusively found in Metazoa including sponge, it is the most abundant protein in mammals and constitutes about 25% to 35% of the body protein content. Collagen binds 1 to 2% of the muscle tissue as the main component of Endomissim and occupies 6% of the muscle weight. Collagen is also a major component of cartilage, ligament, tendon, bone and skin. Its natural tensile strength is evident in the strength and elasticity of skin and blood vessels. It also contributes to eyesight and is located in crystalline form in the lens of the cornea and eye. It is widely used in medical profession which is an integral component of many cosmetic, dental, orthopedic, and burn surgical procedures.
But since the outbreak of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE '# 39' s), the use of bovine collagen has been worried, among which BSE attracts the most widespread media attention. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease (MCD), is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder in cattle and causes spongiform degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period of about 4 years, usually affecting adult cattle at peaks of 4 to 5 years, all varieties are equally sensitive. In the UK, the worst affected, more than 179,000 cattle infected in the eradication program, 4.4 million were slaughtered.
Most scientists believe that this disease can spread to people who eat brains or spinal cords of infected dead bodies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_spongiform_encephalopathy (Note 3). In humans it is known as a new Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and 164 people died in the UK by February 2009. 42 people died in other areas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_spongiform_encephalopathy (Note 4). Between 460,000 and 482,000 animals infected with BSE entered the human food chain and control of high risk organs was introduced in 1989.
In the UK BSE survey, the epidemic was generally caused by a herbivorous cow and concluded that infectious agents spread by ingesting the remains of other cattle in the form of meat or bone meal. The cause of the disease itself remains unknown. Infectious agents are characteristic of high temperatures at which it can survive. This contributed to the spread of disease in the UK that used the temperature used in the rendering process. Another factor was to give infected protein supplements to very young calves.
Collagen products prepared from bovine material are at risk of propagation of BSE agents in animals. Users of collagen in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and surgical industries must ensure that there are no TSEs and materials of other animal species where TSE naturally exists in the material of cattle. To ensure this, the material of the bovine has to be obtained from the country equipped with a BSE monitoring system and reported if BSE is zero or BSE.
According to a European Commission survey of the European Food Safety Authority to assess the risk of discovering BSE in many countries, New Zealand is not an example of BSE, one of the few countries without TSE It is diagnosed in one of the countries. In the experiments in the UK and the EU, New Zealand cattle are used as a control not including BSE. As a result, New Zealand has earned high praise by providing international markets with bovine collagen that does not contain high quality BSE.
