USDA resisted retesting suspect mad cow

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USDA resisted retesting suspect mad cow

 

 

By Steve Mitchell

UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL

 

 

Washington, DC, Jun. 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to

send a brain sample from a suspected mad cow case to England to have it

confirmed by experts there, after the animal had retested positive for the

deadly disease, but the agency resisted both retesting and seeking the

additional confirmation last March, saying it was unnecessary, United Press

International has learned.

 

 

The watchdog group Consumers Union requested the USDA run the Western blot

and send samples to the internationally recognized laboratory in Weybridge,

England, after the animal initially tested positive for mad cow disease,

also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE last November.

 

In response, the agency sent a three-page letter refusing to take either

action.

 

" We are confident in the expertise of USDA's laboratory technicians in

conducting BSE testing and do not feel that such confirmatory testing by the

Weybridge laboratory is generally necessary, " Jere L. Dick, associate deputy

administrator, National Animal Health Policy and Programs, wrote in a March

18 letter to Consumers Union.

 

UPI has obtained a copy of the letter.

 

" Nor would the use of the Western blot test have enhanced the result of our

November 2004 testing of a sample which has produced inconclusive results on

a rapid screening test, " Dick added.

 

UPI reported in November that international and domestic experts thought it

was prudent to run a test known as the Western blot, because the animal had

initially tested positive twice on what are known as rapid tests, but

negative on another type of test called immunohistochemistry.

 

Despite the conflicting results, the USDA ruled the cow negative and waited

nearly seven months before running the Western blot test, which came back

positive.

 

John Clifford, chief veterinary officer of the Animal Plant Health

Inspection Service, said the " USDA's Office of the Inspector General ...

recommended " the Western blot test be conducted on three cows that tested

positive on the rapid tests.

 

The inspector general's office told UPI and other media outlets it would

issue a statement Monday, but it did not follow through and so far has not

clarified why it urged the USDA to run the Western blot.

 

Asked why the USDA changed its position from the March letter, agency

spokesman Jim Rogers told UPI, " OIG asked us to do it. I don't know the

rationale behind their request so I would suggest contacting them. "

 

Rogers said it was uncertain whether the agency would continue to run

Western blots on cows that test positive on rapid tests in the future.

 

The USDA has not officially deemed the case a positive, saying that more

tests will need to be conducted and it will also have to hear back from

experts at the laboratory in Weybridge before reaching a final conclusion.

 

Michael Hansen, a research associate and biologist with Consumers Union,

told UPI he thought the agency might have decided to run the Western blot

test after he raised the issue during a June 6 private meeting held by the

Institute of Medicine on BSE and related diseases.

 

The USDA issued a timeline Monday stating the OIG requested the sample be

retested during the week of June 5-11.

 

Hansen questioned the USDA's reluctance to deem the cow positive for BSE.

" In Europe and Japan, this would be considered positive, " he told UPI.

 

The agency has released few details about the origin of the animal in

question other than that it was an older domestic cow born before a 1997 ban

that prohibits incorporating tissues from cows and other ruminants into

cattle feed -- which is how the disease is thought to spread.

 

Humans can contract a fatal, incurable brain-wasting illness known as

variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease from consuming beef products contaminated

with the mad cow pathogen. The USDA said the animal in question was

incinerated and did not go into the food supply, but it has offered no

documented evidence to support this assertion.

 

Another concern: The USDA's own inspectors have said they are aware of

instances where meatpacking plants did not remove the parts of older animals

considered most risky for transmitting the disease, such as the brain and

spinal cord, which is a violation of agency policy.

 

The USDA said it has found no evidence to support the inspectors'

allegations, but consumer advocates have said agency officials acknowledged

in private meetings they are aware of internal reports documenting the

violations.

 

Public-health concerns may be on the minds of officials at the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention as well. On Tuesday the agency issued a

notice in the Federal Register petitioning applications for grants to

improve education and surveillance for vCJD and CJD, a disease that is

similar to vCJD but has no known cause.

 

The purpose of the program is " to enhance national surveillance for CJD and

its emerging variants, " the notice stated.

 

 

Those who control the past, control the future; Those who control the future,

control the present; Those who control the present, control the past.^