U.S. covering up mad cow cases, scientist says

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U.S. covering up mad cow cases, scientist says

 

Canadian Press

 

OTTAWA — A scientist and former inspector for the U.S Agriculture

Department says he's willing to take a lie detector test to back his

claim that his government is covering up mad cow disease.

 

Lester Friedlander, now a consumer advocate, was fired from his job as

head of inspections at a large meat-packing plant in Philadelphia in

1995 after criticizing what he called unsafe practices.

 

Friedlander said he knows U.S. Agriculture Department veterinarians

who sent suspect cow brains to private laboratories that confirmed mad

cow infection, but samples from the same animals were cleared by

government labs.

 

" It's several veterinarians that have given me similar stories about

sending cow brains in,'' he said in an interview Tuesday. " It might be

shocking for Canadians but it wouldn't be shocking for veterinarians

that have worked for the USDA.

 

" I'm willing to back this up with a voice stress analysis test or even

a lie detector test.''

 

Friedlander wouldn't name the veterinarians, saying they still work

for the Agriculture Department and would be fired if identified.

 

The department has denied Friedlander's allegations, which were first

reported last week.

 

Rob McNabb, a spokesman for the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, said

it does seem puzzling that four mad cow cases have been detected in

Canadian-born cattle but none in U.S.-born cattle.

 

" It's true that the risk ... is very similar, and it is surprising,''

he said.

 

There are 120 million cattle in the United States, 15 million in Canada.

 

" I guess there's always going to be people raising the question, `How

come it's 4-0?','' he said.

 

But McNabb wouldn't comment on Friedlander's allegations.

 

Michael Hansen, a scientist with the U.S. Consumers Union in

Washington, said there's widespread suspicion about the testing of

three suspected cases of mad cow in U.S. cattle.

 

Hansen said all tests came back negative in the three cases but the

USDA used a rapid test based on immuno-histochemistry, not the Western

blot test which is considered most reliable.

 

" Many of the top scientists think that's insane,'' he said of the use

of the less reliable test.

 

He said there are also suspicions about a recent case in St. Angelo,

Tex., when officials at an abattoir noticed a cow was staggering and

wanted it tested, but permission was refused.

 

" The federal inspectors and the plant employees all wanted to test the

animal and basically (the USDA) said, `Nah, we're not going to do

that.' So the animal was sent to rendering and was never tested.''

 

Hansen said there appears to be a great lack of eagerness to detect

mad cow in the United States.

 

A study by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis three years ago

concluded there was a 20 per cent chance that mad cow was present in

the United States.

 

The U.S. government closed its border to live cattle imports from

Canada in 2003 after a single Canadian cow tested positive for the

disease. Three other Canadian cases have been confirmed since then,

one in a Washington State cow that originally came from Canada.

 

The border was to reopen to live cattle March 7 this year but that was

delayed by a challenge from a U.S. cattle industry lobby group.

 

Friedlander was in Ottawa to testify at a Commons committee examining

proposed changes to the Canadian food regulation system.