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USDA pressed about new mad cow tests
Libby Quaid, Associated Press
June 14, 2005 MADCOW0614
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Senior congressional Democrats on food and farm issues asked Monday why the Agriculture Department suddenly ordered new tests on tissue from a cow declared free of mad cow disease seven months ago.
Now, a brain sample from the cow is being sent to England for further study because a third round of tests came back positive late Friday. The Agriculture Department's inspector general suddenly ordered those tests last week.
The department has not explained why the new tests were ordered. The inspector general's office, an independent arm of the agency, would not comment Monday, saying a brief statement would be issued today.
"That's absurd," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the House Appropriations Committee's senior Democrat on farm issues. "What we're doing by delaying this information is that you put the public health at risk, and you put the industry at risk. Who's going to feel comfortable with our products?"
DeLauro and Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, the Senate Agriculture Committee's top Democrat, said they will ask the department to explain why new tests were ordered and why it took months to do so.
The Agriculture Department has said the animal presented no threat to human or animal health because it was a "downer" cow and was unable to walk. Such animals are banned from the food chain.
A consumer group that had requested the new round of testing applauded the decision but called the delay unfortunate.
"We just hope they will proceed extremely rapidly to track down the herd mates and not prolong this assessment any longer than it needs to be," said Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at Consumers Union.
Agriculture Department investigators are tracking the movements of the cow and other animals from its herd, said Dr. John Clifford, chief veterinary officer of the department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The animal was incinerated last year after the first round of "rapid" tests indicated the presence of the disease, Clifford said.
Tissue from the cow's brain has been kept frozen at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. Scientists there will decide this week which portions to send to an internationally recognized laboratory in Weybridge, England, and which portions to keep in Ames for further testing, Clifford said.
Also Monday:
• Canadian Ambassador Frank McKenna said Canada will not close its border to imports of U.S. beef. He said U.S. packing workers are being laid off while Canadian packing jobs grow because the U.S. border remains closed to shipments from Canada, which discovered its first case of mad cow disease in 2003.
• Taiwan indicated it will ban U.S. beef, again, if new tests confirm the suspected U.S. case of mad cow disease.
• Japan, formerly the largest customer of U.S. beef, indicated that a positive test result would not deter officials from resuming imports of U.S. beef.
Libby Quaid, Associated Press
June 14, 2005 MADCOW0614
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Senior congressional Democrats on food and farm issues asked Monday why the Agriculture Department suddenly ordered new tests on tissue from a cow declared free of mad cow disease seven months ago.
Now, a brain sample from the cow is being sent to England for further study because a third round of tests came back positive late Friday. The Agriculture Department's inspector general suddenly ordered those tests last week.
The department has not explained why the new tests were ordered. The inspector general's office, an independent arm of the agency, would not comment Monday, saying a brief statement would be issued today.
"That's absurd," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the House Appropriations Committee's senior Democrat on farm issues. "What we're doing by delaying this information is that you put the public health at risk, and you put the industry at risk. Who's going to feel comfortable with our products?"
DeLauro and Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, the Senate Agriculture Committee's top Democrat, said they will ask the department to explain why new tests were ordered and why it took months to do so.
The Agriculture Department has said the animal presented no threat to human or animal health because it was a "downer" cow and was unable to walk. Such animals are banned from the food chain.
A consumer group that had requested the new round of testing applauded the decision but called the delay unfortunate.
"We just hope they will proceed extremely rapidly to track down the herd mates and not prolong this assessment any longer than it needs to be," said Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at Consumers Union.
Agriculture Department investigators are tracking the movements of the cow and other animals from its herd, said Dr. John Clifford, chief veterinary officer of the department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The animal was incinerated last year after the first round of "rapid" tests indicated the presence of the disease, Clifford said.
Tissue from the cow's brain has been kept frozen at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. Scientists there will decide this week which portions to send to an internationally recognized laboratory in Weybridge, England, and which portions to keep in Ames for further testing, Clifford said.
Also Monday:
• Canadian Ambassador Frank McKenna said Canada will not close its border to imports of U.S. beef. He said U.S. packing workers are being laid off while Canadian packing jobs grow because the U.S. border remains closed to shipments from Canada, which discovered its first case of mad cow disease in 2003.
• Taiwan indicated it will ban U.S. beef, again, if new tests confirm the suspected U.S. case of mad cow disease.
• Japan, formerly the largest customer of U.S. beef, indicated that a positive test result would not deter officials from resuming imports of U.S. beef.
