1. Zombie Apocalypse
Suspicion surrounds a meat rendering plant in Kent, sparking paranoia.
An episode of the The Cows Are Mad podcast, hosted by BBC Radio 4, titled "1. Zombie Apocalypse" was published on October 23, 2023 and runs 14 minutes.
October 23, 2023 ·14m · The Cows Are Mad
Summary
Hidden deep in the heart of the Kent countryside is an abandoned factory with a dark past. In the 1980s and 1990s it processed tens of thousands of dead cows - some of which are thought to have been infected with a disease that would devastate British farming. Then, when early human cases of BSE began to emerge in people living close to the rendering plant, paranoia also infected Kent’s countryside communities. People wanted answers - but there were none. Today, science has failed to definitively answer two major questions about mad cow disease - where did it originally come from and how did humans get it? Written, presented and produced by Lucy Proctor.
Episode Description
Hidden deep in the heart of the Kent countryside is an abandoned factory with a dark past. In the 1980s and 1990s it processed tens of thousands of dead cows - some of which are thought to have been infected with a disease that would devastate British farming.
Then, when early human cases of BSE began to emerge in people living close to the rendering plant, paranoia also infected Kent’s countryside communities. People wanted answers - but there were none.
Today, science has failed to definitively answer two major questions about mad cow disease - where did it originally come from and how did humans get it?
Written, presented and produced by Lucy Proctor.
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