MAD COW DISEASE

USDA ANNOUNCES BSE TEST RESULTS AND NEW BSE CONFIRMATORY TESTING PROTOCOL Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has received final test results from The Veterinary Laboratories Agency in Weybridge, England, confirming that a sample from an animal that was blocked from the food supply in November 2004 has tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Johanns also directed USDA scientists to work with international experts to thoughtfully develop a new protocol that includes performing dual confirmatory tests in the event of another "inconclusive" BSE screening test. "We are currently testing nearly 1,000 animals per day as part of our BSE enhanced surveillance program, more than 388,000 total tests, and this is the first confirmed case resulting from our surveillance," Johanns said. Effective immediately, if another BSE rapid screening test results in inconclusive findings, USDA will run both an IHC and Western blot confirmatory test. If results from either confirmatory test are positive, the sample will be considered positive for BSE....Click here for a transcript of the press conference....
Mad-Cow Disease Confirmed for 2nd Time in U.S. Herd The U.S. confirmed its second case of mad-cow disease after a U.K. lab found traces of the illness in an animal that was cleared by earlier government tests. The finding may delay attempts to revive $2.5 billion of U.S. beef exports and force a review of screening methods. The lab in Weybridge, England, found evidence of the brain- wasting livestock disease in a tissue sample taken in November from an animal that never entered the food supply, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said today in an e-mailed statement. The sample was sent to the U.K. after a series of tests using three different procedures provided contradictory results. ``It is clear now that the USDA had no established procedure to deal with conflicting test results,'' said Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat from Iowa, in a statement. ``This lack of clear direction caused uncertainty for America's beef and cattle markets, consumers and our trading partners.'' Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said the U.S. will add a second level of testing for any samples with inconclusive results....
R-CALF CEO Says BSE Case Won't Affect Litigation R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America CEO Bill Bullard said Friday that confirmation of a case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, in the U.S. cattle herd won't have any effect on the organization's litigation against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In that case, R-CALF USA won a preliminary injunction against the USDA's Final Rule that would have allowed Canadian cattle younger than 20 months of age to enter the U.S. directly for slaughter or for feeding before slaughter. It is pending appeal before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. R-CALF USA sought to prevent cattle from Canada from entering the U.S. because Canada has had four cases of BSE, one of which was found in the U.S. and resulted in lost export markets. The case against the USDA charges the Final Rule is not robust enough to prevent the spread of BSE in the U.S., Bullard said....
BSE Results Won't Impact Japan Beef Talks U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Friday that the newly confirmed second case of mad cow disease in the U.S. won't affect the ongoing talks with Japan to lift its 18-month-old import ban on U.S. beef, Kyodo reported. "I don't think our discussions with Japan will be impacted," Johanns said in a press conference announcing the second case, Kyodo reported. Johanns said Japan also understands it, noting the already incinerated animal was banned from food supply and aged at least eight years old as opposed to Japan's planned reopening of imports from animals aged up to 20 months, according to Kyodo....
Questions On BSE Infected Cow Remain Unanswered By USDA Questions about the second cow to test positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the U.S., such as the animal's origin and how and where it was infected, remain unanswered after an hour-long press conference here Friday. U.S. Department of Agriculture officials said the infected animal had been delivered to a "4D" facility that processes dead, dying, diseased or downer cattle that are not fit for human consumption, but they did not say where that facility was located. ther than the fact that the "beef cow" in question was a downer, meaning it was too sick or injured to walk, USDA Secretary Mike Johanns said: "We're just not going to confirm anything about the animal until we get the (epidemiological) work done. I hope you understand we want to be very, very careful about that." John Clifford, deputy administrator for veterinary services at USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services, said one person has told the USDA which herd the infected animal came from, but the USDA wants scientific confirmation before releasing the information....
Beef stocks slip on case of mad cow disease Many fast food chains saw their stock prices slip in late trading Friday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported the second case of mad cow disease in the United States. The sell-off was not nearly as severe as Dec. 24, 2003, however, when the first case of the brain-wasting mad cow disease sent many restaurant stocks into a tailspin. On Friday, shares in those companies followed the rest of the market lower and dipped further after the USDA's announcement, which came about 90 minutes before the close of trading. Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's Corp. shares dropped about 1 percent to $28.28, near its low for the day. Wendy's International Inc. closed down less than 1 percent to $46.53 and Outback Steakhouse Inc. dropped nearly 1 percent to close $45.05, a few cents off its Friday low....

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