MAD COW DISEASE

Judge postpones trial on Canadian cattle A federal judge today postponed a trial on whether Canadian cattle should be allowed to enter the United States. Shipments resumed Monday. U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull in Billings, Mont., canceled arguments scheduled for July 27 on the lawsuit by Western ranchers against the U.S. Agriculture Department. Cebull had granted a preliminary injunction to ranchers who had sued to keep the border closed to Canadian cattle, saying it presented a risk to the U.S. beef industry as well as to American consumers. However, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed his injunction Thursday, allowing cattle shipments from Canada to resume. The first truckload entered the United States Monday. The three-judge panel issued a brief order but has not yet issued an opinion explaining why it rebuffed Cebull. "After receipt of the court of appeals' opinion, this court will determine whether further hearings are necessary," Cebull wrote in an order today....
Attack on U.S. food supply 'easy,' senators warn An attack on America's food supply using biological agents or disease is easy to do, would spread fast and have a devastating economic effect, a Senate committee heard on Wednesday, as it reviewed protection for U.S. agriculture. Confusion over confirming a second U.S. case of mad cow disease recently may have revealed a flaw in the system, Senate Agriculture Committee chairman Saxby Chambliss said. "I am concerned that since the fact of Sept. 11 we have spent millions and millions of dollars on the issue of homeland security but yet we don't have a lab in the United States of America that's capable of making an instantaneous decision on BSE, which is a fairly common disease," Chambliss said. Conner said the USDA decided to use Britain's Weybridge laboratory because it had more experience with the disease, although it conducted no tests that the USDA could not have done itself....
Chile lifts ban on U.S. beef imports Chile is lifting a mad cow disease-related ban on U.S. beef, the Agriculture Department said Tuesday. Chile was among dozens of countries that banned U.S. beef in December 2003 following the discovery of a cow infected with mad cow disease in Washington state. "This is one more step toward normalized international trade in beef," Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said in a statement. In the year before the ban, the U.S. sold beef worth $5.3 million to Chile. In contrast, Japan, formerly the biggest U.S. beef customer, purchased $1.5 billion in U.S. beef that year. Japan has not yet lifted its ban despite agreeing to do so last fall....
More BSE-infected cattle found in Britain A cluster of cows infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, Mad cow disease, has raised fears that contaminated feed is still being used in Britain. Three young dairy cows born long after the 1996 ban on contaminated feed are the second such BSE cluster found in England. The first occurred on a farm in Wales, also involving three young cattle born long after all feed possibly contaminated with BSE was banned. Scientists said the occurrence of a second cluster of BSE in young cattle strongly suggests the cases were not a statistical fluke and contaminated feed caused the outbreaks, the Independent reported Wednesday....
EU outlines plans to relax BSE restrictions The European Commission's plan to relax the bloc's rules on mad cow disease provides hope to food companies that they will have wider access to beef suppliers, including those in the UK. The big prize would be the re-opening up of the UK market. Under 1996 rules British beef cannot be exported to the rest of Europe from any animal more than 30 months old. The embargo, in effect since 1996, also prohibits the UK from exporting beef on the bone. Citing the steep decrease in the incidence of BSE within the UK and throughout the rest of the EU, the Commission proposes lifting the additional restrictions the bloc put on imports of live cattle and beef products from the UK. Meat must be deboned and cattle aged over 30 months are excluded from export to the rest of the EU and overseas....
Blood donors warned over mad cow Around 100 people who donated blood to three patients who later developed the human form of mad cow disease are to be warned they may carry the deadly agent, the Department of Health said yesterday. Britain first announced in 2003 what was thought to be the world’s first case of transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) via transfusion. On Wednesday, health officials said the 100-odd people concerned, who have a greater chance of carrying the vCJD compared with the general population, will be told not to donate any more blood, tissue or organs. They will also be asked to inform health care professionals so that extra precautions can be taken in case of surgery or other invasive procedures. “When a recipient of a blood transfusion goes on to develop vCJD, we have to consider the possibility that the infection could have been passed on through the transfusion,” Britain’s chief medical officer said....
Reports Call for High-Level Coordination of Animal Health The United States needs a new high-level mechanism to coordinate the currently fragmented framework for confronting new and emerging animal-borne diseases, such as mad cow disease, avian influenza, and West Nile virus, says a new report from the National Academies' National Research Council. Also, a second Research Council report released today says stronger efforts are needed to recruit more veterinarians and other scientists into veterinary research. Both reports note that a growing shortage in the number of veterinary pathologists, lab animal scientists, and other veterinary researchers -- especially those involved in public health -- is making it more difficult to meet mounting challenges in animal health. Currently, dozens of federal and state agencies, university laboratories, and private companies monitor and maintain animal health in this country. Many of the government agencies perform similar functions, while gaps in responsibility also exist, particularly in federal oversight of nonlivestock animal diseases. Animal Health at the Crossroads: Preventing, Detecting, and Diagnosing Animal Diseases says centralized coordination is needed to harmonize the work of public and private groups that safeguard animal health. The coordinating mechanism should facilitate the sharing of information among agencies and connect key databases, as well as improve communication with the public, especially during animal disease outbreaks. The report also calls for stronger links in the network of public and private labs that test for and diagnose animal diseases....

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