Don't test don't tell

[Guest guest]

Nationwide, testing has PLUMMETED after discovery of the mad-cow case

near Yakima, announced Dec. 23.

 

At Vern's Moses Lake Meats, the slaughterhouse where the infected cow

was killed, no animals have been tested since Dec. 24, co-owner Tom

Ellestad said.

 

"USDA requested us to stop taking samples," he said.

 

Fearful of finding an infected animal, plant operators could select

healthy animals to test, she said. And if testing isn't required,

farmers with sick animals could ship them to slaughterhouses that

don't collect samples.

 

Ferguson confirmed that slaughterhouses don't have to participate in

the sampling program.

 

"If they want us to stay away, they can tell us to stay away."

 

---------

USDA Tells Mad Cow

Slaughterhouse: No More Tests

Number Of Mad-Cow Tests In NW Didn't Reach Federal Agency's Goal

By Sandi Doughton

Staff Reporter

Seattle Times

2-24-4

 

 

The federal government fell short of its goal for mad-cow tests last

year in the Northwest, where the nation's first case of the brain-

wasting disease was found just before Christmas.

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's surveillance plan said it would

take at least 1,205 tests to adequately monitor the five-state area,

which includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Utah. But the

agency collected only 781 samples, less than two-thirds of the

target.

 

In all other regions of the country, the agency exceeded its goals,

bringing the total number of tests to about 20,000 in the 2003 fiscal

year, which ended in October.

 

USDA senior staff veterinarian Lisa Ferguson said the agency didn't

meet its target for the Northwest because few suitable

slaughterhouses would participate in the voluntary testing program.

 

Nationwide, testing has plummeted after discovery of the mad-cow case

near Yakima, announced Dec. 23.

 

Only 1,608 animals were tested in January, down from 3,064 in

December. Those numbers don't include animals killed and tested in

January as part of the investigation into the Yakima mad-cow case.

 

At Vern's Moses Lake Meats, the slaughterhouse where the infected cow

was killed, no animals have been tested since Dec. 24, co-owner Tom

Ellestad said.

 

"USDA requested us to stop taking samples," he said.

 

Ellestad didn't know why USDA made the request.

 

Agency spokesman Jim Rogers said he wasn't familiar with the

situation at Vern's. He said the national drop-off is due to the fact

that, in response to the infected cow, "downer" animals were banned

from the human food chain shortly after Christmas and are no longer

being shipped to slaughterhouses, where the testing effort had been

concentrated.

 

Changing focus of tests

 

More than 80 percent of the cattle tested last year were downers ó

too sick or injured to stand.

 

The goal is to test 40,000 animals this year. The agency is working

to revamp the program to target animals that die on farms or are sent

to rendering plants, Rogers said.

 

Consumer advocates say the geographical disparity and drop in testing

are alarming.

 

"We just found a case of mad-cow in this country," said Felicia

Nestor, food-safety director for the Government Accountability

Project, a watchdog group. "We should be doing a lot of tests now."

 

Much of the testing should focus on the Northwest, with its strong

ties to Canada, birthplace of the infected Holstein, she added.

 

Three government advisory panels and one congressional committee have

called for a more aggressive testing program, going far beyond the

40,000 target, which represents about one-tenth of a percent of the

35 million cattle slaughtered each year. The latest recommendation

was made yesterday by a USDA committee of animal-disease experts.

 

Ferguson said the testing program was never intended to keep mad-cow

out of the human food chain, but was a statistical sampling that

would detect the disease if it was present in one animal out of a

million.

 

An international panel of experts appointed by Agriculture Secretary

Ann Veneman said testing should target all downers older than 30

months, as well as cattle that die on a farm or have symptoms of a

nervous-system disorder.

 

USDA estimates that could total 600,000 animals a year, Ferguson

said.

 

Voluntary testing

 

In addition to testing more animals, Nestor said, a revamped

surveillance program should correct what she believes are troubling

flaws in the system: It is voluntary, and plant operators generally

select animals to be tested.

 

Ellestad said USDA officials repeatedly offered him up to $10,000 a

year to participate in the testing program because they weren't

meeting their quotas in the Northwest region.

 

He finally signed a contract to provide up to 1,000 brain samples for

$10 each.

 

Ellestad also said he ó not a USDA veterinarian ó generally decided

which animals to test.

 

While Ellestad said the voluntary system worked well, Nestor said it

could be open to "gaming" by unscrupulous companies.

 

Fearful of finding an infected animal, plant operators could select

healthy animals to test, she said. And if testing isn't required,

farmers with sick animals could ship them to slaughterhouses that

don't collect samples.

 

Ferguson confirmed that slaughterhouses don't have to participate in

the sampling program.

 

"If they want us to stay away, they can tell us to stay away."

 

But in practice, she said, USDA vets work closely with company

officials and state inspectors, often collecting samples from animals

that are also being tested for other diseases, such as rabies.

 

Ellestad's account has also raised questions about the adequacy of a

testing program that focuses almost exclusively on downers. While a

USDA vet said the infected animal was a downer, Ellestad and two

other witnesses say she was walking.

 

If that's true, mad-cow testing should be expanded to include

apparently healthy animals, the Republican-led House Committee on

Government Reform said last week.

 

The USDA inspector general is investigating the question.

 

- Sandi Doughton: 206-464-2491 or sdoughton

 

The Seattle Times Company

 

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001863824_madcow24.ht

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http://www.rense.com/general49/mdnc.htm