moooo..muhhhahahaha..mooo..muwahahaha...mmmoooohahahah

[Guest guest]

Government to scale back mad cow testing dispite confirmation of

third case

March 14, 2006 at 6:42 pm PST

 

Posted on Tue, Mar. 14, 2006

 

Government to scale back mad cow testing

LIBBY QUAID

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Despite the confirmation of a third case of mad cow disease,

the government intends to scale back testing for the brain-wasting disorder

blamed for the deaths of more than 150 people in Europe.

 

The Agriculture Department boosted its surveillance after finding the first

case of mad cow disease in the United States in 2003. About 1,000 tests are

run daily, up from about 55 daily in 2003.

 

The testing program detected an infected cow in Alabama last week, and

further analysis confirmed Monday that the animal had mad cow disease.

 

Still, a reduction in testing has been in the works for months. The

department's chief veterinarian, John Clifford, mentioned it when he

announced the new case of mad cow disease.

 

" As we approach the conclusion of our enhanced surveillance program, let me

offer a few thoughts, " Clifford said, explaining that the U.S. will follow

international standards for testing.

 

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns pointed out testing is not a food safety

measure. Rather, it's a way to find out the prevalence of the disease.

 

" Keep in mind the testing was for surveillance, " Johanns told reporters

Monday in Warsaw, Poland, where he was attending trade talks. " It was to get

an idea of the condition of the herd. "

 

Higher testing levels were intended to be temporary when they were announced

two years ago.

 

Yet consumer groups argue more animals should be tested, not fewer.

Officials haven't finalized new levels, but the department's budget proposal

calls for 40,000 tests annually, or about 110 daily.

 

" This would be a tenth of a percent of all animals slaughtered, " Jean

Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at Consumers Union, said

Tuesday. " This starts to be so small that in our opinion, it approaches a

policy of don't look, don't find. "

 

Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin said the confidence of American consumers and foreign

customers is at risk.

 

" USDA ought to continue a sound surveillance testing program to demonstrate

that U.S. beef is indeed safe and that anti-BSE safeguards are, in fact,

working, " said Harkin, senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee.

 

Consumer groups want every animal to be tested, said Gary Weber, head of

regulatory affairs for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association in Denver.

 

" It's not cost-effective; it's not necessary, " Weber said. " The consumers

we've done focus groups with are comfortable that this is a very rare

disease and we've got safeguards in place. "

 

He mentioned government protections to keep the disease from the food chain

for people or animals.

 

" All those things add up to safety, " he said.

 

The department mostly tests older cows with symptoms of the disease.

Infected cows can show signs of nervous system disorder, such as aggression,

lack of coordination, inability to walk or abnormal posture. In the latest

case, the cow couldn't walk. It was a " downer, " another sign of the disease.

Dead cows are also suspect.

 

Tests are done on brain tissue from cows, so animals must be killed before

they can be tested. There is no test for the disease in a live animal.

 

Since June 2004, the department has tested 652,697 cows for the disease. The

nation has about 95 million cattle.

 

The medical name for mad cow disease is bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or

BSE. In humans, eating meat contaminated with BSE is linked to variant

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a rare and deadly nerve disease.

 

An outbreak in the United Kingdom killed more than 180,000 cows and was

blamed for more than 150 human deaths. It began in 1986 and spread

throughout Europe, peaking in 1993.

 

The first American case appeared 10 years later in Washington state in a

Canadian-born cow. The disease was found again last June in a Texas cow.

 

ON THE NET

 

Agriculture Department: http://www.usda.gov

 

 

" NOTICE: Due to Presidential Executive Orders, the National Security Agency may

have read this email without warning, warrant, or notice. They may do this

without any judicial or legislative oversight. You have no recourse nor

protection save to call for the impeachment of the current President. "