Just heard a bit of info and want to know if anyone else had heard it. The story is the USDA just killed off 29 head of cattle in Texas and are testing them for BSE. It came as a short news clip at the end of the news this evening. I didn't hear it myself but was asked if anything about it was on Ranchers yet. Not trying to start anything but would just like to know if any of you heard anything about it.
Has anyone heard this.
- Thread starter Tam
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PORKER
Well-known member
Cow test results due today
Early findings could help determine whether disease spread beyond single Texas animal
10:37 PM CDT on Friday, July 8, 2005
By KAREN ROBINSON-JACOBS / The Dallas Morning News
Early test results should be available today to help determine whether the latest case of mad cow disease is more widespread than one Texas beef cow, the USDA said Friday.
The agency said 29 cattle from the same ranch as a 12-year-old beef cow found last month to be infected with the brain-wasting disease were culled from the herd Wednesday.
They were killed and samples of their brain tissue were sent to the USDA National Veterinary Services Lab in Ames, Iowa, said Jim Rogers, a spokesman for the agency's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
The agency chose to bypass the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory in College Station – which initially processed the sample from the 12-year-old cow – in favor of going directly to Ames.
"If the tests come back inconclusive, we want to immediately run confirmatory tests," said Mr. Rogers. "We don't want to wait."
Mr. Rogers said the first set of samples is being processed with the so-called rapid screening test, which can produce results within 24 hours.
Dr. Lelve Gayle, who heads the Texas lab, said those tests for bovine spongiform encephalopathy come back either negative or "not negative," which is sometimes referred to as "inconclusive."
Normally, those tests are done at one of seven state screening labs around the country. Any sample that is not clearly negative is sent to the federal lab in Ames for further testing. Thus far, Texas has done rapid screening tests on more than 38,000 samples – the vast majority from rendering plants in Texas and New Mexico, Dr. Gayle said. That amounts to 9.5 percent of the nearly 400,000 samples tested nationwide.
Texas is by far the nation's leading cattle producer, with about 14 million head as of early January.
Dr. Gayle agreed with the agency's decision to conduct all of the testing in Ames.
"I personally think it makes getting the answer quicker," said Dr. Gayle. "It cuts out some of the time and shipping. It's pretty important that you cut out any areas where shipping could be a problem."
Any rapid screening tests for BSE that are inconclusive will be subjected to two more rigorous tests: the IHC and western blot. Both search for an abnormal prion protein in an animal's brain tissue.
If an animal tests inconclusive, it will be incinerated, Mr. Rogers said. Any that test negative will be sent to a landfill for disposal. The USDA pays the fair market value for the destroyed animals to the rancher involved, who has not been named.
The animals' bodies remain in Texas, he said.
Mr. Rogers said he was unable to give any additional details on the first 29 animals picked for scrutiny. In announcing June 24 that the cow had tested positive, the agency said it planned to look for herd mates born a year before or a year after that cow, and offspring born within the last two years.
The 29 animals were adults, not calves, but Mr. Rogers said he did not have information on their ages or genders.
The 12 year-old-cow was born before the U.S. enacted a ban on feeding cattle parts to other cattle. BSE is believed to be spread when cattle eat feed contaminated with parts from infected cows.
Humans who eat beef products contaminated with mad cow disease can contract a fatal illness, known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Mr. Rogers could not say how much of the herd of origin has been scrutinized so far or how long it might take to complete work on this herd.
"We're doing it as quickly as we can," he said.
He and others at the USDA acknowledged that the agency is putting fewer employees on this epidemiological probe than were brought to bear on the nation's first confirmed test, discovered in Washington state in December of 2003.
"At that time we didn't know what the prevalence [of BSE] was in this country," Mr. Rogers said. "So there were a lot more people involved. Now we know that the prevalence is low to statistically none."
"Every epidemiological investigation is going to be different," he said. "We can learn from previous incidents, but each case is different."
E-mail [email protected]
Early findings could help determine whether disease spread beyond single Texas animal
10:37 PM CDT on Friday, July 8, 2005
By KAREN ROBINSON-JACOBS / The Dallas Morning News
Early test results should be available today to help determine whether the latest case of mad cow disease is more widespread than one Texas beef cow, the USDA said Friday.
The agency said 29 cattle from the same ranch as a 12-year-old beef cow found last month to be infected with the brain-wasting disease were culled from the herd Wednesday.
They were killed and samples of their brain tissue were sent to the USDA National Veterinary Services Lab in Ames, Iowa, said Jim Rogers, a spokesman for the agency's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
The agency chose to bypass the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory in College Station – which initially processed the sample from the 12-year-old cow – in favor of going directly to Ames.
"If the tests come back inconclusive, we want to immediately run confirmatory tests," said Mr. Rogers. "We don't want to wait."
Mr. Rogers said the first set of samples is being processed with the so-called rapid screening test, which can produce results within 24 hours.
Dr. Lelve Gayle, who heads the Texas lab, said those tests for bovine spongiform encephalopathy come back either negative or "not negative," which is sometimes referred to as "inconclusive."
Normally, those tests are done at one of seven state screening labs around the country. Any sample that is not clearly negative is sent to the federal lab in Ames for further testing. Thus far, Texas has done rapid screening tests on more than 38,000 samples – the vast majority from rendering plants in Texas and New Mexico, Dr. Gayle said. That amounts to 9.5 percent of the nearly 400,000 samples tested nationwide.
Texas is by far the nation's leading cattle producer, with about 14 million head as of early January.
Dr. Gayle agreed with the agency's decision to conduct all of the testing in Ames.
"I personally think it makes getting the answer quicker," said Dr. Gayle. "It cuts out some of the time and shipping. It's pretty important that you cut out any areas where shipping could be a problem."
Any rapid screening tests for BSE that are inconclusive will be subjected to two more rigorous tests: the IHC and western blot. Both search for an abnormal prion protein in an animal's brain tissue.
If an animal tests inconclusive, it will be incinerated, Mr. Rogers said. Any that test negative will be sent to a landfill for disposal. The USDA pays the fair market value for the destroyed animals to the rancher involved, who has not been named.
The animals' bodies remain in Texas, he said.
Mr. Rogers said he was unable to give any additional details on the first 29 animals picked for scrutiny. In announcing June 24 that the cow had tested positive, the agency said it planned to look for herd mates born a year before or a year after that cow, and offspring born within the last two years.
The 29 animals were adults, not calves, but Mr. Rogers said he did not have information on their ages or genders.
The 12 year-old-cow was born before the U.S. enacted a ban on feeding cattle parts to other cattle. BSE is believed to be spread when cattle eat feed contaminated with parts from infected cows.
Humans who eat beef products contaminated with mad cow disease can contract a fatal illness, known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Mr. Rogers could not say how much of the herd of origin has been scrutinized so far or how long it might take to complete work on this herd.
"We're doing it as quickly as we can," he said.
He and others at the USDA acknowledged that the agency is putting fewer employees on this epidemiological probe than were brought to bear on the nation's first confirmed test, discovered in Washington state in December of 2003.
"At that time we didn't know what the prevalence [of BSE] was in this country," Mr. Rogers said. "So there were a lot more people involved. Now we know that the prevalence is low to statistically none."
"Every epidemiological investigation is going to be different," he said. "We can learn from previous incidents, but each case is different."
E-mail [email protected]
TimH
Well-known member
Tam, Yup, I heard the same thing on a local radio station. They are to be tested with rapid tests and if any come up "inconclusive" will be tested with IHC and western blot.I would be surprised if any are positive.
No big deal. So far at least, it has been shown that it is EXTREMELY rare for herdmates of known BSE positives to also be BSE positive.
Kinda makes you wonder about the "feed" theory don't it??? Or the transmitted through urine, feces,etc. THEORY!!!
Let's face it folks..... BSE is present IN EXTREMELY LOW LEVELS in the USA and Canada. Enough already!!!!! :x
No big deal. So far at least, it has been shown that it is EXTREMELY rare for herdmates of known BSE positives to also be BSE positive.
Kinda makes you wonder about the "feed" theory don't it??? Or the transmitted through urine, feces,etc. THEORY!!!
Let's face it folks..... BSE is present IN EXTREMELY LOW LEVELS in the USA and Canada. Enough already!!!!! :x
I wondered if maybe this was the case and Canada and other countries have proven it is unlikely to be found in the herdmates but better be safe than sorry. And I agree about the theories, will we ever know for sure? The evidence of feed is the strongest theory out there as it at least has some results to back it up but as far as the unine and feces theory I just can see that one as if it was true then why don't we have herdmates contracting the disease from the positive one.
Maple Leaf Angus
Well-known member
TimH said:
Tim, I said the same thing on here a while back and Mikeeey boy cut me down like . . . . There is much more or maybe much less to this BSE B>S> than we know. In view of many of the troubles in this world that have a ready solution, I believe that it is a classic example of having made a mountain out of a molehill with this issue.
Brad S
Well-known member
ML, "I believe that it is a classic example of having made a mountain out of a molehill with this issue."
Exactly! Has the beef industry held togather to sensibly deal with this very limited problem or has division embarassed us? Sadly, we're divided mostly due to opportunism, and this likely will/has harm/ed the industry for everyone.
Exactly! Has the beef industry held togather to sensibly deal with this very limited problem or has division embarassed us? Sadly, we're divided mostly due to opportunism, and this likely will/has harm/ed the industry for everyone.
Exactly! Has the beef industry held togather to sensibly deal with this very limited problem or has division embarassed us? Sadly, we're divided mostly due to opportunism, and this likely will/has harm/ed the industry for everyone
Brad S......Could not agree with your words more. If only some others could understand the ramifications of all that has been said or done.
Brad S......Could not agree with your words more. If only some others could understand the ramifications of all that has been said or done.
Mike
Well-known member
Maple Leaf Angus said:
I agree that BSE is extremely rare in North America. I also assert that it was extremely rare in the UK before the epidemic hit.
I am not so sure about feed either, being that so many born after the feed ban in the UK were found positive.
But one thing I DO KNOW is that I don't want to see the cattle industry upset like it has been in Europe and the fact that we shipped several thousand tons of MBM from the UK worries the $h*t out of me.
Maple Leaf, If I have offended you, it was not intentional. Please accept my humblest apologies.
Maple Leaf Angus
Well-known member
Mike said:
You did not and no need to apologise!
I think that if we come into the bull session, we had better be able to accept some solid criticism and disagreement. Therefore, it may not be the safest place in which to dump our deeper sensitivities.
HAY MAKER said:
Yea right Haymaker :nod:
There are a few on here I also don't read everything they post there isn't time enough in the day to do it.or I just don't want to waste mine on them. But I know how you sit just waiting to hear what I have to say. You even make up PM's if it has been to long since you heard from me last :wink: I didn't think anything of it when you posted your thread instead of replying to my earlier post as it happens quite often on here where something is post only to find out there was already a thread started on the topic no big deal.
Brad S
Well-known member
Mike, we're all scared as hell of BSE or we ain't been paying attention. For logistical reasons Canada is more vulnurable than The US, but when you see what they've suffered because of 3 BSE cases in 10 million head, its easy to get all superstitous. BUT such a frenzie is when we need unity, logic, science and cooperation.
Mike, we don't know the scrapie link in the feed is the deal, but the UK is now able to manage free of BSE.
Mike, we don't know the scrapie link in the feed is the deal, but the UK is now able to manage free of BSE.
Tommy
Well-known member
Brad S...Mike, we don't know the scrapie link in the feed is the deal, but the UK is now able to manage free of BSE.
Brad, what do you mean the UK is now able to manage free of BSE? From what I have read they are still finding cases of BSE in the UK. One chart showed 109 cases so far for 2005.
Brad, what do you mean the UK is now able to manage free of BSE? From what I have read they are still finding cases of BSE in the UK. One chart showed 109 cases so far for 2005.
Brad S
Well-known member
known imported cattle are staying clean. UK still has hot cattle but they can import clean cattle and keep them clean.
