U.S. sees no need to test all cattle for mad cow
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A dairy cow stares out from its pen Tuesday, at the Sunny Dene Ranch in Mabton, Washington.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the infected cow was born before feed bans went into effect.
CNN's Maria Hinojosa details methods some farmers use to avoid mad cow disease.
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| THE HUMAN LINK |
• Mad cow disease was first reported in the United Kingdom in 1986, peaking in 1993 with almost 1,000 new cases per week.
• In 1996, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) was detected in humans and linked to the mad cow epidemic. Eating contaminated meat and cattle products is presumed to be the cause.
• Both are fatal brain diseases with unusually long incubation periods, often lasting years.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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HEALTH LIBRARY
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The Bush administration said on Wednesday there was no need to test all U.S. cattle for mad cow disease because its new safeguards should satisfy American consumers and trading partners that U.S. beef is safe to eat.
Discovery of the nation's first case of mad cow disease in a Washington state dairy cow sent U.S. cattle prices plunging by 20 percent in one week and prompted more than two dozen nations to halt $3.2 billion in annual imports of U.S. beef.
Japan, the No. 1 buyer, will send a team of food experts to the United States, probably in January, to gather information that may bolster U.S. requests for resumption of trade.
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman defended the department's policy to test the highest-risk cattle, which includes older animals, sick and injured ones, and cattle showing signs of neurological disease that could signal mad cow disease.
Veneman and USDA's chief veterinarian, Ron DeHaven, brushed aside suggestions to test all cattle, as Japan does. DeHaven told reporters it was premature to consider such an action in the eighth day of investigating the mad cow case.
"We had a single find of BSE (mad cow) in this country and we believe that what we're doing is appropriate action taken in an abundance of caution under the circumstances," Veneman said on NBC-TV's "Today Show."
Formally named bovine spongiform encephalopathy, mad cow disease is caused by misshaped proteins called prions. It is fatal and can be spread by eating contaminated meat.
During a news conference, DeHaven said it was "far too premature to draw any conclusions" about the source of feed that may have infected the Holstein in Washington state and the Black Angus cow that was Canada's first case of mad cow in May.
Published reports said investigators were looking at a rendering plant in Edmonton, Alberta.
DeHaven said DNA testing might begin as early as Wednesday night to determine if Canada was the home of the Washington state infected cow. Tests are being conducted in both countries and should be complete next week.
Investigators have located nine other cows apparently shipped from Canada with the infected one, he said. They have "good leads" on the remaining 71 from the same lot in August 2001. They were sold in the breakup of a Canadian dairy herd.
"As far as we know now, all of the trace-backs lead back to Washington state," DeHaven said.
In an abrupt change in policy, the Bush administration announced several new restrictions on Tuesday to protect the food supply, including banning sick or injured cattle from use in human food. The ban on "downer" cattle was previously opposed by the White House and the livestock industry.
A handful of Democratic lawmakers say more federal meat inspectors must be hired as part of mad cow security.
USDA declined to say if more inspectors were needed. "We will adjust our work to accomplish the new policies," said Daniel Englejohn of the Food Safety and Inspection Service.
Veneman used her power under an animal health law to immediately ban downer cattle from the food supply. The animals, believed to number about 200,000 out of a total annual slaughter of nearly 36 million, still can be used in making pet food and other products not intended for human consumption.
Other new restrictions prohibit the sale of meat from animals held for mad cow testing until results show the meat was safe. The USDA also issued stricter rules for handling spinal columns, brains and other risky cattle parts.
Consumer groups and lawmakers said more safeguards were needed. Their list included speedy implementation of a law requiring country-of-origin labels on meat, more stringent rules against using cattle remains in livestock rations and aid to farmers and ranchers hurt by the mad cow case.
Country-of-origin labels will become mandatory on September 30, 2004, but would be delayed under a bill pending in Congress. The House has passed the bill. The Senate was expected to vote in January.
"I think that we have to go further," Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, told Reuters. "We need to test all cattle over the age of three."
U.S. cattle futures prices fell for a fifth straight session on Wednesday, but livestock analysts said the market was stabilizing with signs that beef packing plants were dipping back into the market to buy live cattle.
Copyright 2003
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
