MAD COW DISEASE

Canada confirms mad cow disease

Canada confirmed its fourth case of mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), with an approximately six-year-old cross-bred cow born and raised in Alberta, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) reported on Jan. 23. The finding is not unexpected. The cow was registered in Canada's national surveillance program, which targets cattle at highest risk of being infected with BSE. The case was detected among 87,000 animals tested since the first Canadian mad cow disease case in 2003, CFIA said. "Since May 2003, Canada has clearly stated the possibility of finding a small number of additional BSE cases." "The geographic location and age of this animal are consistent with the three domestic cases previously detected through the national BSE surveillance program and the current understanding of BSE in Canada," CFIA states....

Japan confirms BSE case in 64-month-old cow

Japan has confirmed that a 64-month-old cow that died last week in Hokkaido, northern Japan, had mad cow disease, the country's 22nd case, an Agriculture Ministry official said on Tuesday. The news comes just four days after Japan reimposed a ban on imports of U.S. beef that it put in place two years ago in response to fears about the disease. The ministry official said the carcass of the Holstein cow would be destroyed and would not enter the market. Japan only requires cattle aged 21 months or older to be checked for mad cow disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), as the older cattle are believed to have a higher risk of developing the disease. However, all local governments in Japan continue to check all cattle for BSE due to strong consumer concerns about the disease as experts say a human version of BSE can be transmitted by eating infected meat....

Consumers Union Says Stronger Restrictions Needed to Prevent Spread of Mad Cow from Canada to US

With Canada reporting another case of mad cow disease, Consumers Union said today that both current and proposed Food and Drug Administration animal feed rules are inadequate to protect the public health, and urged the FDA to act now to keep high-risk cattle parts that are most likely to spread the disease out of animal feed.
"This latest case of mad cow disease in Canada points to a significant North American mad cow problem," says Michael Hansen, a biologist with Consumers Union specializing in food safety. This latest positive cow, reported to be six years old, was born after FDA's and Canada's current feed restrictions went into effect, indicating that the restrictions are not strong enough to prevent the spread of this brain-wasting disease. Consumers Union, in comments submitted to FDA in December, noted that new research conducted in the United Kingdom shows that miniscule amounts of infected cattle material can, if fed to other cattle, transmit mad cow disease....

U.S. ranchers want ban on beef, cattle from Canada; government says it's unlikely

Some cattle industry leaders called for the temporary suspension of beef and cattle trade with Canada in light of that country's latest finding of mad cow disease. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture said suspension is unlikely. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, in a statement today, said he anticipated no change in trade status, based on information provided by Canada's agriculture minister. Canadian authorities reported the discovery of mad cow disease in an Alberta animal about 6 years old. They said the cow reached neither the chain of food for humans nor animal feed systems. The United States allows imports of Canadian beef and cattle under 30 months of age, with restrictions, U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman Ed Loyd said. Still, some cattle industry leaders say the United States should halt cattle and beef trade until more answers about the latest finding emerge. This is the fourth case of mad cow disease in Canada since May 2003. Two cases have turned up in the United States since December 2003. "I think this confirms some of the concerns we had all along, that they have a more severe problem in Canada than the U.S.," said Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. Chuck Kiker, president of R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America, finds the USDA acted too quickly in restoring limited beef and cattle trade with Canada....

US 'aggressive' in reopening beef trade: Bush

The United States will be aggressive in reopening markets to American beef and assuring foreign buyers there is no danger of mad cow disease, President George W. Bush said on Monday. Bush said he wanted to "make sure we're treated fairly" in beef exports. Exports used to consume 10 percent of U.S. beef output and are recovering slowly from sales bans that followed discovery of the first U.S. case of mad cow disease in late 2003. "We have got to be aggressive about explaining to people why our beef is safe," Bush said, when asked by Kansas rancher Jan Lyons about a new interruption in exports. Lyons is the former head of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, a trade group for cattle ranchers. Earlier on Monday, Japan's agriculture minister, Shoichi Nakagawa, said there would be no resumption in trade until there was a U.S. explanation of how the violation of trade rules occurred. Senior U.S. officials were in Tokyo for meetings scheduled on Tuesday on the issue. A USDA spokesman said officials worked through the weekend on a report. "The process is well under way, but there's a lot of work to do," he said....