Mad Cow Disease Confirmed in US

[Guest guest]

http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/061305HB.shtml

 

Mad Cow Disease Confirmed in US

Australian Associated Press

 

Saturday 11 June 2005

 

In what could be the second US case of mad cow disease, an older

beef animal tested positive for the deadly ailment but will undergo

another round of tests at a British laboratory to confirm the results,

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said on Friday.

 

The only US confirmed case of mad cow disease, or bovine

spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), was found in December 2003 in a

Washington state dairy cow.

 

That discovery halted billions of dollars worth of American beef

exports and raised questions about the safety of the US food supply.

 

Johanns said the new suspected case involved an older beef animal

which was chosen for testing because it was a " downer " animal that

could not walk when it arrived at the slaughterhouse.

 

The animal's carcass never entered the human food or livestock

feed supply, he said.

 

" This animal was a downer animal and did not get into the food or

feed chain. There just is no risk whatsoever, " Johanns told reporters

in a hastily called news conference on Friday evening.

 

The government refused to disclose any information about the

suspect animal's origin or where it was slaughtered.

 

" It was getting up in age. It was a beef breed, " said John

Clifford, chief veterinarian for the Animal and Plant Health

Inspection Service.

 

It is not unusual to have conflicting test results for BSE, cattle

experts said.

 

The USDA said the suspect animal had tested positive for BSE in a

rapid, preliminary test in November. When it was retested with a more

sophisticated technology, the animal was found free of the disease.

 

But USDA's Inspector General earlier this week asked department

scientists to retest the suspect animal, and two others, using yet a

third kind of technology known as the " western blot " test. That test

showed the beef animal was infected with the brain-wasting ailment,

Johanns said.

 

USDA officials said they would send the animal's brain tissue to

an internationally known laboratory in Weybridge, England for a final,

confirmatory test.

 

" We have not confirmed a case of BSE in the United States at this

time, " said Clifford.

 

" It's going to require additional testing to determine if this is

BSE or not. "

 

Discovery of the suspect animal comes at a time when USDA

officials have pressed Japan and South Korea to resume purchases of

American beef. Both nations were major buyers of US beef until they

suspended purchases in December 2003.

 

" I don't believe this has any impact on our international trading

partners, " Johanns said.

 

The United States has asked Japan to allow imports of American

beef from cattle under 20 months of age. Scientists believe that

younger animals pose less risk of the disease because it takes several

years to incubate within an animal's nervous system.

 

At the same time, the USDA is involved in a lawsuit to reopen the

US border to imports of cattle from Canada, which has confirmed three

domestic cases of mad cow disease.

 

On Thursday, Johanns held a public meeting in Minnesota to make a

public case for reopening the border to Canadian animals, which once

accounted for about 1 million cattle slaughtered in the United States

each year.

 

US meat industry officials say they are being forced to close

plants and lay off workers because they cannot obtain enough cattle to

keep the plants operating efficiently.

 

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association said it was not unusual

to have conflicting test results for BSE.

 

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