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Anonymous
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March 14, 2006
Sample from Alabama Santa Gertrudis Positive for BSE
(Billings, Mont.) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Monday announced that the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, confirmed through a Western blot test that a Santa Gertrudis cow in Alabama tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). USDA officials said a dentition examination by a local veterinarian indicated the animal likely was at least 10 years old or more, meaning she was born before implementation of the 1997 feed ban. USDA officials also said the animal had been on the Alabama farm for less than a year, and an epidemiological investigation would start at once. It remains unknown at this time where the animal was born.
"BSE is not native to the United States, and we are fortunate the U.S. began implementing precautionary measures against this disease soon after it was first discovered in Great Britain," said R-CALF USA Vice President and Region VI Director Max Thornsberry. "The U.S. made BSE a reportable disease in 1986, established import restrictions in 1989, implemented a surveillance program in 1990, implemented a feed ban in 1997, and in 2004, began removing high-risk tissues from older cattle.
"No other country had implemented such a comprehensive BSE protection plan prior to a domestic discovery of BSE, and while these measures have served to protect our cattle herd and our consumers from any widespread exposure, it is now obvious that this foreign animal disease has, in fact, been introduced into the United States," Thornsberry continued.
"The U.S. cattle industry continues to produce the safest, most wholesome beef in the world, and we must ensure that we have effective, fully implemented measures in place to keep it that way," he emphasized. "The U.S. should continue the basic mitigation measures currently in place and strengthen the measures where uncertainty remains.
This recent BSE case, like the first case found in Texas, was detected in an animal born well before the implementation of our 1997 feed ban, indicating the disease was introduced prior to that time and may have penetrated U.S. import restrictions first implemented in 1989.
"USDA should now work to ensure that our import restrictions prevent any further introduction of the disease and should continue its BSE surveillance testing," Thornsberry commented. "USDA also should encourage development of live animal tests, or tests that may be able to detect the disease sooner than those already on the market.
"Meanwhile, R-CALF believes USDA should allow private packers to meet the product requirements of export customers in order to restore, and then maintain, lost export markets, including testing of cattle at slaughter," he added.
Because a comprehensive feed ban is known to be the most effective measure in arresting the amplification of BSE, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should immediately strengthen the U.S. feed ban by closing the loopholes identified the agency back in 2004 – including a ban on poultry litter from cattle feed – and by ensuring complete compliance with the feed ban," Thornsberry asserted. "The U.S. should also require all countries that intend to export beef or cattle to the U.S. to do the same. Currently, the U.S. and Canada have the least restrictive feed bans of all countries known to have BSE.
"Additionally, country-of-origin labeling (COOL) should be implemented at once, which would afford U.S. beef consumers the right to choose between domestic beef or products from Canada, Japan and other foreign countries," noted Thornsberry. "COOL would, as well, protect the U.S. cattle industry in the event additional Canadian BSE cases are discovered in animals born after the Canadian feed ban.
"The U.S. also needs to require countries that export beef and cattle to the United States to significantly strengthen their own BSE mitigation measures, by requiring those nations to start removing all known specified risk materials (SRMs) from cattle over 12 months of age, which is the current recommendation by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) for countries with an undetermined BSE risk," Thornsberry stressed.
"We have a responsibility to our consumers to eliminate this disease from the U.S. cattle herd," Thornsberry said. "It makes no sense to increase our exposure to the introduction of BSE by importing cattle and beef from countries with a greater risk for the disease, while we are working to eradicate the low domestic level of BSE.
"Likewise, it makes no sense to continue allow into the United States foreign beef and cattle under lower import standards than standards the U.S. is required to meet for beef exported elsewhere," Thornsberry concluded.
# # #
R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) represents thousands of U.S. cattle producers on domestic and international trade and marketing issues. R-CALF USA, a national, non-profit organization, is dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. R-CALF USA's membership consists primarily of cow/calf operators, cattle backgrounders, and feedlot owners. Its members – over 18,000 strong – are located in 47 states, and the organization has over 60 local and state association affiliates, from both cattle and farm organizations. Various main street businesses are associate members of R-CALF USA. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516.
Sample from Alabama Santa Gertrudis Positive for BSE
(Billings, Mont.) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Monday announced that the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, confirmed through a Western blot test that a Santa Gertrudis cow in Alabama tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). USDA officials said a dentition examination by a local veterinarian indicated the animal likely was at least 10 years old or more, meaning she was born before implementation of the 1997 feed ban. USDA officials also said the animal had been on the Alabama farm for less than a year, and an epidemiological investigation would start at once. It remains unknown at this time where the animal was born.
"BSE is not native to the United States, and we are fortunate the U.S. began implementing precautionary measures against this disease soon after it was first discovered in Great Britain," said R-CALF USA Vice President and Region VI Director Max Thornsberry. "The U.S. made BSE a reportable disease in 1986, established import restrictions in 1989, implemented a surveillance program in 1990, implemented a feed ban in 1997, and in 2004, began removing high-risk tissues from older cattle.
"No other country had implemented such a comprehensive BSE protection plan prior to a domestic discovery of BSE, and while these measures have served to protect our cattle herd and our consumers from any widespread exposure, it is now obvious that this foreign animal disease has, in fact, been introduced into the United States," Thornsberry continued.
"The U.S. cattle industry continues to produce the safest, most wholesome beef in the world, and we must ensure that we have effective, fully implemented measures in place to keep it that way," he emphasized. "The U.S. should continue the basic mitigation measures currently in place and strengthen the measures where uncertainty remains.
This recent BSE case, like the first case found in Texas, was detected in an animal born well before the implementation of our 1997 feed ban, indicating the disease was introduced prior to that time and may have penetrated U.S. import restrictions first implemented in 1989.
"USDA should now work to ensure that our import restrictions prevent any further introduction of the disease and should continue its BSE surveillance testing," Thornsberry commented. "USDA also should encourage development of live animal tests, or tests that may be able to detect the disease sooner than those already on the market.
"Meanwhile, R-CALF believes USDA should allow private packers to meet the product requirements of export customers in order to restore, and then maintain, lost export markets, including testing of cattle at slaughter," he added.
Because a comprehensive feed ban is known to be the most effective measure in arresting the amplification of BSE, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should immediately strengthen the U.S. feed ban by closing the loopholes identified the agency back in 2004 – including a ban on poultry litter from cattle feed – and by ensuring complete compliance with the feed ban," Thornsberry asserted. "The U.S. should also require all countries that intend to export beef or cattle to the U.S. to do the same. Currently, the U.S. and Canada have the least restrictive feed bans of all countries known to have BSE.
"Additionally, country-of-origin labeling (COOL) should be implemented at once, which would afford U.S. beef consumers the right to choose between domestic beef or products from Canada, Japan and other foreign countries," noted Thornsberry. "COOL would, as well, protect the U.S. cattle industry in the event additional Canadian BSE cases are discovered in animals born after the Canadian feed ban.
"The U.S. also needs to require countries that export beef and cattle to the United States to significantly strengthen their own BSE mitigation measures, by requiring those nations to start removing all known specified risk materials (SRMs) from cattle over 12 months of age, which is the current recommendation by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) for countries with an undetermined BSE risk," Thornsberry stressed.
"We have a responsibility to our consumers to eliminate this disease from the U.S. cattle herd," Thornsberry said. "It makes no sense to increase our exposure to the introduction of BSE by importing cattle and beef from countries with a greater risk for the disease, while we are working to eradicate the low domestic level of BSE.
"Likewise, it makes no sense to continue allow into the United States foreign beef and cattle under lower import standards than standards the U.S. is required to meet for beef exported elsewhere," Thornsberry concluded.
# # #
R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) represents thousands of U.S. cattle producers on domestic and international trade and marketing issues. R-CALF USA, a national, non-profit organization, is dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. R-CALF USA's membership consists primarily of cow/calf operators, cattle backgrounders, and feedlot owners. Its members – over 18,000 strong – are located in 47 states, and the organization has over 60 local and state association affiliates, from both cattle and farm organizations. Various main street businesses are associate members of R-CALF USA. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516.
