MAD COW NEWS
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Accelerates Expanded Daily Price Limit Schedule
in Cattle Contracts
CHICAGO, Dec. 24, 2003 – The Business Conduct Committee of Chicago
Mercantile Exchange Inc. (CME) met this morning at 11:00 a.m. Central time to
consider whether an emergency action was required to respond to market activity
following the announcement of the discovery of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
(“Mad Cow Disease”) in one Holstein dairy cow near Mabton, Washington. Holstein
cattle are not deliverable on CME’s cattle contracts.
After full consideration of the impact on the cash and futures markets, the
committee unanimously voted to accelerate CME’s schedule for expanded daily price
limits in its live cattle and feeder cattle futures contracts. For the live cattle futures
contract, on Friday, Dec. 26, the daily price limit will be $0.03 per pound. If the
December 2003 or February 2004 contract month is locked either up or down the limit at the close on Friday, then the limit on Monday, Dec. 29, and on Tuesday, Dec. 30 will be expanded to $0.05 per pound. If either contract month is locked limit at the close of trading on Tuesday, Dec. 30, the limit on Wednesday Dec. 31 will continue to be $0.05 per pound. Otherwise it will revert to $0.03 per pound. The same accelerated schedule will be in effect for feeder cattle futures.
Trading hours for both contracts on Friday, Dec. 26, will be the planned holiday
hours of 9:05 a.m. to 12:00 noon Central time, the same hours that traded today. At
today’s open, trading in live cattle and feeder cattle futures opened down the $0.015 per pound daily limit and remained down the limit for the rest of the trading day.
CME’s daily price limit schedule was revised on Oct. 15, 2003. The schedule
that applied prior to today’s emergency action was as follows:
• If either of the two contracts in the even month cycle nearest to expiration settles
on the limit bid for two successive days or on the limit offer for two successive
days, the price limit shall be raised to $0.030 per pound for all contract months.
• If the daily price limit is $0.030 and either of the two contracts in the even month
cycle nearest to expiration settles on the limit bid for two successive days or on
the limit offer for two successive days, then the price limit shall be raised to
$0.050 per pound for all contract months.
PAGE 2
• If the daily price limit is $0.050 and neither of the two contracts in the even month
cycle nearest to expiration settles on the limit bid or limit offer, without regard to
market direction, then the daily price limit for all contract months shall revert to
$0.030 on the next business day.
• If the daily price limit is $0.030 and neither of the two contracts in the even month
cycle nearest to expiration settles on the limit bid or limit offer, without regard to
market direction, then the daily price limit for all contract months shall revert to
$0.015 on the next business day.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (www.cme.com) is the largest futures exchange in the United States. As an international marketplace, CME brings together buyers and sellers on its trading floors and GLOBEX® electronic trading platform. CME offers futures and options on futures primarily in four product areas: interest rates, stock indexes, foreign exchange and commodities. The exchange moved about $1.4 billion per day in settlement payments in the first 11 months of 2003 and managed $34.1 billion in collateral deposits at Nov. 30, 2003. CME is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CME), which is part of the Russell 1000® Index. Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CME and GLOBEX are registered trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. Further information about CME and its products is available on the CME Web site at www.cme.com.
# # #
03-194
Statement U.S. Meat Export Federation
President and CEO Philip Seng
Wednesday, December 24, 2003
With the USDA announcement Tuesday (Dec. 23) that a single presumptive positive case of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as "mad cow disease") had been diagnosed in a Washington state dairy cow, the U.S. Meat Export Federation immediately committed its full resources in 13 offices worldwide to begin dialogs with agricultural officials and meat industry partners. Our message was simple: the U.S. beef production system is safe and the discovery of a single case of BSE doesn’t change this fact. In addition, we have assured our trading partners that maintaining a safe and wholesome food supply for our domestic consumers and export customers remains our highest priority. The discovery of this single case is proof that our system of safeguards and surveillance has worked.
Unfortunately, many of our trading partners have taken immediate action to temporarily close their borders to U.S. beef. Beef exports last year were valued at more than $3.2 billion and were on track to exceed that level in 2003. We are committed to doing everything we can, working closely with the USDA-Foreign Agricultural Service, to restore our trade as quickly as possible.
Our message to our trading partners includes the following points:
• The United States government will work to ensure that the investigation is rapid, accurate and thorough, and we will keep our trading partners and the Organization of International Epizootics (OIE) informed of all developments.
• As part of our BSE response plan, the farm from which the suspect animal came has been quarantined.
• The plant where the Holstein cow was slaughtered was not a participant in the beef export verification (BEV) program, meaning it does not export beef.
• USDA and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have developed and are implementing emergency response plans to prevent the unlikely spread of the disease.
• The U.S. recognizes that the OIE has established guidelines for trade in animals and animal products from countries that have detected cases of BSE. The U.S. government and private industry have been working with the OIE in advancing the science and application of safe trade in animal and animal products. This is especially important for countries that have put in place effective measures over a number of years to manage the risk of BSE and have taken aggressive steps to respond – as the U.S. has done.
It is also important to remember the following:
• The suspect animal was an adult Holstein cow that was non-ambulatory at time of slaughter.
• The animal was from a farm in Mabton, Washington, about 40 miles southeast of Yakima, which has been quarantined.
• The animal was slaughtered in a small, federally-inspected packing plant in Moses Lake, Washington, and all specific risk materials (such as spinal cord, brain, intestine) were rendered and not allowed into the human food chain.
• The animal was tested as part of USDA's BSE surveillance program. The presumptive positive was diagnosed using two tests, one of which was the immunohistochemistry test, which is recognized by World Animal Health Organization as the gold standard test for BSE. The brain samples were then flown to the Central Veterinary Lab at Weybridge, England. Confirmation is expected in three to five days from now.
• The animal was processed and, although there is no risk of infectivity in the meat, USDA will attempt to trace the product from this animal.
There is more than ample reason to maintain confidence in the U.S. beef production system, and USMEF and USDA will do everything in their power to communicate this confidence to our trading partners worldwide.
R-CALF USA Requests Specific BSE Mitigation Actions
(Billings, MT) In a letter to President Bush and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Ann Veneman, on the day of USDA’s announcement of a possible finding of BSE in a Washington state dairy cow, R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) President Leo McDonnell requested that the United States “Immediately close the United States border to all imports of live cattle, beef, and both raw and manufactured livestock feed until the circumstances surrounding the suspected case [of BSE] are fully disclosed and understood.”
In its letter, R-CALF USA first praised the United States for its foresight in implementing meaningful safeguards to both minimize the risk of introducing Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in the United States and for making preparations for the possibility that the disease may breach the nation’s firewalls. “Unfortunately, the United States may be facing its first case of BSE,” the letter stated.
McDonnell explained that the closure of the border is necessary to mitigate both the potential damage the live cattle market might sustain and to maintain consumer confidence in the nation’s beef supply following USDA’s announcement of the suspected BSE case. R-CALF USA had called an emergency meeting on the day of USDA’s announced finding and drafted its letter at the request of United States cow/calf producers, feeders, and livestock auction yard representatives participating in the meeting.
R-CALF USA said the rational for making the request to close the border was based on the high probability that if BSE were found in the United States, it would most likely have entered through imported ruminants or ruminant products; that the border closure was further needed to maintain the economic viability of the U.S. live cattle industry as it would prevent the build-up of excess supplies of beef and cattle, thus mitigating the potential for price-depressing oversupplies; it would allow the U.S. to rule-out that imported feed was the source of the suspected infection; and that such action would demonstrate that the United States considers the maintenance of a viable cattle industry and the health and safety of consumers a high priority.
McDonnell concluded his letter by stating, “We view this request as an essential step in preserving our domestic market and protecting consumer confidence.”
(30)
R-CALF USA, the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America is a national, non-profit cattle association representing cattle producers in the areas of trade and marketing. R-CALF USA has approximately 9,000 individual members in 46 states and 52 affiliated local and state cattle and farm organizations. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or call 406-252-2516.
NCBA Advisory
December 24, 2003
To: NCBA Member Organizations
Contact: Rick McCarty, NCBA Denver 303-694-0305
Kendal Frazier 303-694-0305
Subject: BSE Updates
Dec. 24, 2003 BSE Information Update
The cow
The cow is a Holstein from a two-premise Washington State dairy operation with approximately 4,000 head. Those operations have been quarantined. No animals may leave the premises.
The animal was purchased into this dairy herd in October 2001 as a two-year old cow. The cow's age is estimated to be 4 to 4 ½ years old.
It was purchased by the dairy from one of two livestock auction markets in October of 2001. The records of the auction markets are being investigated.
The cow was culled Dec. 9 due to paralysis associated with calving difficulty.
The USDA veterinarian did an ante-mortem inspection and found nothing remarkable; the condition was consistent with birthing injury. The inspection by the USDA veterinarian at slaughter agreed with the original finding.
A sample was collected as part of routine surveillance. That sample arrived Dec. 11 at the National Animal Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, which handles all BSE testing. Results showing positive for BSE were received on Dec.22
The presumptive positive samples were sent to the international reference laboratory in Weybridge, England for confirmation and were scheduled to arrive Dec. 24. Results are expected in three to five days.
The Investigation
Federal agencies such as APHIS, FDA and FSIS and the state of Washington have teams on the ground working the investigation.
The on-farm investigation is focused on two premises at this time as the animals in the dairy were commingled. The dairy's owners are very cooperative and have good records.
Work is underway to trace the animal back to its birth herd. USDA may have information on this in a day or two. Once that is done, there will be a trace forward.
The federal government intends to identify every herd this animal moved through, and other animals that moved in and out of those herds during the stay of the infected animal.
It is common to test offspring of suspect animals.
FSIS is investigating four operations that may have received product from the infected animal.
FDA is trying to trace the feed sources for the animal, as contaminated feed is the only known way to transmit the disease. It is believed that the contaminated feed was consumed prior to coming to the farm where it was culled.
FDA has issued a statement regarding its investigation of the potential involvement of FDA-regulated products associated with a BSE-presumptive cow in Washington State. http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2003/NEW00999.html
All feed facilities are inspected once a year. There are 1,826 facilities approved to handle ruminant material. Presently, there are only two out of compliance. When the feed ban was put in place in August of 1997, about 75 percent of the operations were in compliance. Now that is 99.9+ percent.
Food Safety
The potentially infectious material - central nervous system tissue such as the brain and spinal cord - never entered the human food chain. Any tissue at risk for harboring the infectious agent went into rendering.
Verns Moses Lake Meats, a Moses Lake, Wash., establishment, which processed the animal along with 19 others on Dec. 9, has issued a voluntary recall of 10,140 pounds of beef. This represents all the meat from the 20 carcasses. This is a Class II recall, meaning the beef poses an extremely low likelihood of risk to human health. This step is being taken as part of the "abundance of caution" surrounding this issue.
Economic Impact
As of noon, at least 10 of our trading partners had implemented temporary bans against importing U.S. beef. This includes the largest export markets of Japan, Mexico, South Korea and Hong Kong. Exports account for about 10 percent of total U.S. production.
The United States is discussing the issue with our trading partners. Some have offered their help.
U.S. Meat Export Federation reports that at least 44,000 metric tons of beef are in transit to these countries.
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange traded the limit down on Dec. 24. The CME will be open Friday for a shortened trading session (9 am to noon), as regularly scheduled.
The CME's Business Conduct Committee Dec. 24 voted to accelerate CME's schedule for expanded daily price limits in its live cattle and feeder cattle futures contracts. http://www.cme.com/abt/news/03-194PriceLimits5779.html
For the live cattle futures contract, on Dec. 26 the daily price limit will be 3 cents per pound. If the December 2003 or February 2004 contract month is locked either up or down the limit at the close on Friday, then the limit on Dec. 29 and Dec. 30 will be expanded to 5 cents per pound. Otherwise, it will revert to 3 cents per pound.
The same accelerated schedule will be in effect for feeder cattle futures at the CME.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said it will be monitoring the market for any potential manipulation.
The temporary loss of export markets is consistent with how the world has responded to news of BSE. Prior to the Canadian situation, that reaction was based on public perception. After the Canadian incident, the U.S. recognized that the science does not support a complete trade ban, that there are certain low-risk materials that can be traded. We need to base trade on science, not perception and this is the direction the United States is working toward.
The Canadian government announced today it was instituting import restrictions to limit the range of ruminants and ruminant products eligible to be imported from the U.S.
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/newcom/2003/20031224e.shtml
Additional Message Points as of 12/24
As USDA has confirmed, none of the specified risk materials from this cow, such as central nervous system tissue or spinal cord, entered the food supply. The BSE agent is found in those materials, not in meat like steaks and roast.
U.S. cattlemen applaud the abundance of caution that USDA is taking in this investigation and will cooperate fully in the process.
Cattle in the high BSE risk population (over 30 months) are market cows and bulls. Of the annual slaughter of approximately 35 million, only about 6.4 million animals are market cows and bulls and an NBA audit found that only 0.8% of these animals were non-ambulatory at slaughter. This represents only 0.14% of total animals slaughtered.
U.S. exports represent less than 10 percent of total U.S. beef production. In 2002, Japan represented 2.9 percent of total beef production, Mexico represented 2.3 percent, Korea represented 2.2 percent and Canada represented .8 percent.
Over the past 5 years, the United States has accounted for 47.9 percent of all Japanese beef imports. On average, the United States accounted for 84 percent of all Mexican beef imports.
It is too early in the investigation to predict any additional safety measures beyond the long-running and highly effective firewalls that have been in place for several years: import ban, feed ban and the U.S. BSE surveillance program, which identified this single case.
Media Summary
NCBA spokespersons continued to do interviews with all the national cable and network television outlets and numerous newspapers including USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and USA Today. NCBA held a technical and economic telephone news conference briefing with reporters from 72 media outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Associated Press, National Public Radio, Des Moines Register and many others. During the briefing the NCBA officers and staff and Cattle Fax staff stressed that the U.S. beef supply is safe and that the BSE agent has not entered the food supply. NCBA Chief Executive Officer Terry Stokes is scheduled to appear on Fox News with Tony Snow on Saturday evening, December 27.
Rick McCarty
Executive Director - Issues Management
National Cattlemen's Beef Association
rmccarty@beef.org
303/850-3361
Wednesday, December 24, 2003
Mad Cow News
Russia suspends U.S. beef imports
Russia has suspended imports of U.S. beef following the first case of mad cow disease in the United States.
Russian agriculture minister Alexei Gordeyev told the Interfax news agency that the move followed official U.S. notification of the first mad cow case at a farm in Washington state.
"In connection with that, the veterinary service decided to temporarily suspend shipments of U.S. beef to Russia in accordance with the law," Interfax quoted Gordeyev as saying...
S.Africa bans U.S. beef-related imports
South Africa on Wednesday issued a precautionary ban on beef-related imports from the United States following the first U.S. reports of mad cow disease, the Department of Agriculture said.
"A precautionary ban has been issued on the importation of all possible risk materials from the USA," the department said in a statement, adding that all beef and beef products currently for sale in South Africa were considered absolutely safe for human consumption.
A department spokesman said the ban would cover chiefly imports of beef by-products such as dogfood, adding that South Africa did not import meat or live cattle from the United States.
Hong Kong halts U.S. beef imports after suspected mad cow case
Hong Kong halted imports of U.S. beef and beef products Wednesday after the discovery of a suspected case of mad cow disease in the United States.
The United States was Hong Kong's top source of chilled and frozen beef in 2002, accounting for 17,000 tons out of 53,000 tons in total imports, according to government statistics.
U.S. Meat Export Federation statistics showed the United States exported US$14.4 million worth of beef to mainland China and US$57.7 million of beef to Hong Kong. The two regions combined make up the fifth largest overseas market for U.S. beef...
Russia, Ukraine may suspend U.S. beef imports
Russia and Ukraine said on Wednesday they would follow the lead of big U.S. beef importing countries and suspend imports if the first U.S. case of mad cow disease was confirmed to them officially.
"A concrete decision will be taken after the Russian veterinarian service gets official confirmation of a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy," Yevgeny Nepoklonov was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.
A spokesman for Ukraine's state veterinarian department said a suspension would be "automatic" upon confirmation...
EC not planning to ban American beef
The European Commission has no plans to ban American beef imports - already restricted since mad cow disease hit the UK.
One outbreak of BSE across the Atlantic will not alter the current regime of trade curbs, said a spokeswoman.
America has been on the European Union's "at risk" list for beef trade for years, with import restrictions still in place partly because of the BSE threat but also because of a continuing dispute over the use of beef hormones.
"We have had a number of restrictive measures in place for a long time.
Restaurant industry acts to allay consumers' fears
When mad cow disease was discovered in an isolated herd in Alberta last spring, Americans blinked, but kept eating beef.
The question facing the nation's restaurant industry is whether consumers will be as forgiving after the first mad cow case was discovered on American soil.
Kathy Sullivan, shopping at the meat section of Star Market in Dorchester yesterday evening, said she was planning to make beef stew for Christmas. "I have the same menu every Christmas. It's tradition." But she said she would also prepare turkey, "so if people are nervous, they have their choice of what to eat."...
Beef import bans could cost U.S. billions
With a growing list of countries banning U.S. beef imports because of mad cow disease fears, the impact on the U.S. economy could be in the billions.
The United States is the leading exporter of beef in the world, totaling about $3.5 billion for 2003, according to Philip Seng, president and CEO of the U.S. Meat Export Federation in Denver.
"This would be significant if we were to lose even half our export sales," he said. "This would be a very debilitating development in the United States."...
'Canadian beef in trouble'
A farmer whose entire herd was destroyed after it was linked to mad cow disease says the first suspected case in the U.S. has left him fearing for Canada's beef industry.
"It's not good. Canadian beef is in trouble again as far as I'm concerned," Mel McCrea, 65, said yesterday. "It won't be a good Christmas for a lot of beef producers."
"If say Korea, Japan and them Asia countries close the borders to United States beef, we won't have any place to ship our beef to and we can't butcher it all here in Canada," said McCrea...
Officials to review origin of Nevada beef supply
News from the state of Washington that mad cow disease might have entered the United States sent Nevada officials to the record books to determine whether any of the state's dairy cows came from the Pacific Northwest.
But officials insisted that safeguards in place are adequate to protect the state and country's beef supply from the disease, known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy...
The worldwide spread of 'mad-cow' disease
One case of the deadly "mad-cow" disease was found in a sick animal in Washington state and was being investigated, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said yesterday. The following are key dates in the spread of mad-cow disease, believed to be transmitted by contaminated meat-and-bone meal fed to cattle:...
US mad cow case stirs restaurants, shops in Japan
Restaurants and food retailers in Japan on Wednesday were rattled by news of the first case of mad cow disease in the United States, a major beef exporter to Japan.
With memories still fresh of the outbreak of the brain-wasting disease in Japan, public fears about beef safety are expected to mount anew and damage beef consumption.
Japan on Wednesday halted imports of US beef until their safetyis confirmed following the announcement Tuesday by the US government that it had found its first case of mad cow in Washington State.
Japan has reported nine cases of mad cow disease since 2001...
News of quarantine stuns, angers, scares Mabton-area farmers
Farmers and ranchers in Mabton, southeast of Yakima, were angry and confused yesterday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a dairy cow from a local farm had been infected with "mad-cow" disease.
Meanwhile, cattle ranchers up and down the Yakima Valley predicted a potentially devastating effect on the industry's recent recovery. The industry is experiencing all-time high prices, largely at the expense of Canadian producers, who are reeling from the discovery of mad-cow disease in Alberta in May.
Although the Canadian incident has been described as a single, isolated case, there was some suspicion reported at the time, still unconfirmed, that the cow in Alberta may have had links to cattle in the United States. No other information was available last night on that suspicion. One of the biggest questions to be answered is how the Mabton Holstein became infected...
Oregon Distributor Holds Beef Shipment; Wash. Co. Recalls Beef
The discovery of the first suspected U.S. case of mad-cow disease in Washington state has caused federal inspectors to instruct at least one Oregon meat distributor to hold its beef shipments. Also late Tuesday, a Washington meat company voluntarily recalled more than 10,000 pounds of raw beef.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that Vern's Moses Lake Meat Co., in Moses Lake, Wash., had voluntarily recalled 10,410 pounds of raw beef that may have been exposed to tissues containing the infectious agent. The Moses Lake establishment is one of several that may have received the meat, officials said...
CU expert 'shocked' that meat processed
A leading Colorado authority on the human version of mad cow disease said Tuesday he was "shocked" that meat from a sickened cow apparently made it into the food supply.
Patrick Bosque, a neurologist at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, was reacting to the news that a dairy cow in Washington state appears to be the country's first case of mad cow disease.
Initial reports suggest officials knew the cow was a so-called "downer" animal - those exhibiting symptoms of a neurological or other disease - but was still slaughtered for its meat...
Australia Could Benefit From Asian Bans On US Beef
Already, industry players are expecting Australia and New Zealand, the biggest competitors of U.S. beef products, to benefit from the fall-out.
Thus far, Australia has had no case of BSE.
If the disease can't be contained in the U.S., Japan "will have to look for alternative sources of U.S. beef, which means more Australian or New Zealand beef" in the coming year, according to a Japanese government official.
Australian Agriculture Minister Warren Truss said the country's beef exporters could increase their supplies to Asian markets, following the discovery of the suspected mad cow case...
Mad cow case hits McDonald's shares
McDonald's shares dropped suddenly in after-hours trading Tuesday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that tests indicated a Washington state Holstein had the nation's first case of mad cow disease.
Cattle markets and shares of major meatpackers and producers are expected to experience similar declines beginning Wednesday, analysts said, in a shift that would reverse the good fortunes the U.S. cattle industry has enjoyed this year...
Russia suspends U.S. beef imports
Russia has suspended imports of U.S. beef following the first case of mad cow disease in the United States.
Russian agriculture minister Alexei Gordeyev told the Interfax news agency that the move followed official U.S. notification of the first mad cow case at a farm in Washington state.
"In connection with that, the veterinary service decided to temporarily suspend shipments of U.S. beef to Russia in accordance with the law," Interfax quoted Gordeyev as saying...
S.Africa bans U.S. beef-related imports
South Africa on Wednesday issued a precautionary ban on beef-related imports from the United States following the first U.S. reports of mad cow disease, the Department of Agriculture said.
"A precautionary ban has been issued on the importation of all possible risk materials from the USA," the department said in a statement, adding that all beef and beef products currently for sale in South Africa were considered absolutely safe for human consumption.
A department spokesman said the ban would cover chiefly imports of beef by-products such as dogfood, adding that South Africa did not import meat or live cattle from the United States.
Hong Kong halts U.S. beef imports after suspected mad cow case
Hong Kong halted imports of U.S. beef and beef products Wednesday after the discovery of a suspected case of mad cow disease in the United States.
The United States was Hong Kong's top source of chilled and frozen beef in 2002, accounting for 17,000 tons out of 53,000 tons in total imports, according to government statistics.
U.S. Meat Export Federation statistics showed the United States exported US$14.4 million worth of beef to mainland China and US$57.7 million of beef to Hong Kong. The two regions combined make up the fifth largest overseas market for U.S. beef...
Russia, Ukraine may suspend U.S. beef imports
Russia and Ukraine said on Wednesday they would follow the lead of big U.S. beef importing countries and suspend imports if the first U.S. case of mad cow disease was confirmed to them officially.
"A concrete decision will be taken after the Russian veterinarian service gets official confirmation of a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy," Yevgeny Nepoklonov was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.
A spokesman for Ukraine's state veterinarian department said a suspension would be "automatic" upon confirmation...
EC not planning to ban American beef
The European Commission has no plans to ban American beef imports - already restricted since mad cow disease hit the UK.
One outbreak of BSE across the Atlantic will not alter the current regime of trade curbs, said a spokeswoman.
America has been on the European Union's "at risk" list for beef trade for years, with import restrictions still in place partly because of the BSE threat but also because of a continuing dispute over the use of beef hormones.
"We have had a number of restrictive measures in place for a long time.
Restaurant industry acts to allay consumers' fears
When mad cow disease was discovered in an isolated herd in Alberta last spring, Americans blinked, but kept eating beef.
The question facing the nation's restaurant industry is whether consumers will be as forgiving after the first mad cow case was discovered on American soil.
Kathy Sullivan, shopping at the meat section of Star Market in Dorchester yesterday evening, said she was planning to make beef stew for Christmas. "I have the same menu every Christmas. It's tradition." But she said she would also prepare turkey, "so if people are nervous, they have their choice of what to eat."...
Beef import bans could cost U.S. billions
With a growing list of countries banning U.S. beef imports because of mad cow disease fears, the impact on the U.S. economy could be in the billions.
The United States is the leading exporter of beef in the world, totaling about $3.5 billion for 2003, according to Philip Seng, president and CEO of the U.S. Meat Export Federation in Denver.
"This would be significant if we were to lose even half our export sales," he said. "This would be a very debilitating development in the United States."...
'Canadian beef in trouble'
A farmer whose entire herd was destroyed after it was linked to mad cow disease says the first suspected case in the U.S. has left him fearing for Canada's beef industry.
"It's not good. Canadian beef is in trouble again as far as I'm concerned," Mel McCrea, 65, said yesterday. "It won't be a good Christmas for a lot of beef producers."
"If say Korea, Japan and them Asia countries close the borders to United States beef, we won't have any place to ship our beef to and we can't butcher it all here in Canada," said McCrea...
Officials to review origin of Nevada beef supply
News from the state of Washington that mad cow disease might have entered the United States sent Nevada officials to the record books to determine whether any of the state's dairy cows came from the Pacific Northwest.
But officials insisted that safeguards in place are adequate to protect the state and country's beef supply from the disease, known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy...
The worldwide spread of 'mad-cow' disease
One case of the deadly "mad-cow" disease was found in a sick animal in Washington state and was being investigated, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said yesterday. The following are key dates in the spread of mad-cow disease, believed to be transmitted by contaminated meat-and-bone meal fed to cattle:...
US mad cow case stirs restaurants, shops in Japan
Restaurants and food retailers in Japan on Wednesday were rattled by news of the first case of mad cow disease in the United States, a major beef exporter to Japan.
With memories still fresh of the outbreak of the brain-wasting disease in Japan, public fears about beef safety are expected to mount anew and damage beef consumption.
Japan on Wednesday halted imports of US beef until their safetyis confirmed following the announcement Tuesday by the US government that it had found its first case of mad cow in Washington State.
Japan has reported nine cases of mad cow disease since 2001...
News of quarantine stuns, angers, scares Mabton-area farmers
Farmers and ranchers in Mabton, southeast of Yakima, were angry and confused yesterday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a dairy cow from a local farm had been infected with "mad-cow" disease.
Meanwhile, cattle ranchers up and down the Yakima Valley predicted a potentially devastating effect on the industry's recent recovery. The industry is experiencing all-time high prices, largely at the expense of Canadian producers, who are reeling from the discovery of mad-cow disease in Alberta in May.
Although the Canadian incident has been described as a single, isolated case, there was some suspicion reported at the time, still unconfirmed, that the cow in Alberta may have had links to cattle in the United States. No other information was available last night on that suspicion. One of the biggest questions to be answered is how the Mabton Holstein became infected...
Oregon Distributor Holds Beef Shipment; Wash. Co. Recalls Beef
The discovery of the first suspected U.S. case of mad-cow disease in Washington state has caused federal inspectors to instruct at least one Oregon meat distributor to hold its beef shipments. Also late Tuesday, a Washington meat company voluntarily recalled more than 10,000 pounds of raw beef.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that Vern's Moses Lake Meat Co., in Moses Lake, Wash., had voluntarily recalled 10,410 pounds of raw beef that may have been exposed to tissues containing the infectious agent. The Moses Lake establishment is one of several that may have received the meat, officials said...
CU expert 'shocked' that meat processed
A leading Colorado authority on the human version of mad cow disease said Tuesday he was "shocked" that meat from a sickened cow apparently made it into the food supply.
Patrick Bosque, a neurologist at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, was reacting to the news that a dairy cow in Washington state appears to be the country's first case of mad cow disease.
Initial reports suggest officials knew the cow was a so-called "downer" animal - those exhibiting symptoms of a neurological or other disease - but was still slaughtered for its meat...
Australia Could Benefit From Asian Bans On US Beef
Already, industry players are expecting Australia and New Zealand, the biggest competitors of U.S. beef products, to benefit from the fall-out.
Thus far, Australia has had no case of BSE.
If the disease can't be contained in the U.S., Japan "will have to look for alternative sources of U.S. beef, which means more Australian or New Zealand beef" in the coming year, according to a Japanese government official.
Australian Agriculture Minister Warren Truss said the country's beef exporters could increase their supplies to Asian markets, following the discovery of the suspected mad cow case...
Mad cow case hits McDonald's shares
McDonald's shares dropped suddenly in after-hours trading Tuesday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that tests indicated a Washington state Holstein had the nation's first case of mad cow disease.
Cattle markets and shares of major meatpackers and producers are expected to experience similar declines beginning Wednesday, analysts said, in a shift that would reverse the good fortunes the U.S. cattle industry has enjoyed this year...
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
Mad Cow News
Taiwan halts US beef imports
TAIWAN today halted beef imports from the United States on fears of mad cow disease, joining several other Asian countries.
The move came after a cow in Washington state tested positive for mad cow disease.
If the disease was confirmed, U.S. beef would face a seven-year export ban, said Chiang Yi-nan, the chief of the COA's Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine.
Feds Hold Meat From OR Distributor
The discovery of the first suspected U.S. case of mad cow disease in nearby Washington state is cause for concern in Oregon, as federal inspectors instructed at least one local meat distributor to hold off its shipment.
"It's not going any place. We'll do what we have to do to keep the product from being distributed," said an official at the Willamette Valley Meat Company in Portland, who confirmed that inspectors had visited the meat facility earlier in the day.
But the company official, who refused to give his name, stressed that inspectors have not yet determined if the meat from a Holstein cow suspected of having the disease made its way to Portland. "We don't even know for sure if that cow was sent here," he said...
Dollar calm as market shuns mad cow case
The dollar traded in tight ranges against major currencies on Wednesday as a holiday-thinned market brushed aside robust U.S. data and news that mad cow disease had been discovered in the United States.
"There's a little bit of covering going on right now (due to the mad cow scare), but very few people are changing their positions because of it," said Toshihiro Azuma, a manager at Sumitomo Trust and Banking...
Canadian Cattlemen's Association to Stand Behind US Ranchers
As the United States awaits final test results from England which will confirm or deny the presence of mad cow in one Washington state animal, Canadian ranchers announce their intention to support their US counterparts.
The head of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, Neil Jahnke, said that US beef should not be shut out at Canadian borders, and that his industry will be standing behind US ranchers...
Mad cow fear seen stirring markets
Stocks of national restaurant chains that serve hamburgers and steaks dropped in after-hours trading yesterday, shaken by news of the first reported case of mad cow disease in the United States.
Analysts expected active trading today in the shares of companies such as McDonald's Corp. and cattle futures contracts that change hands on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange...
Seven Nations Halt U.S. Beef Imports
Japan and South Korea halted imports of U.S. beef on Wednesday after a cow in Washington state tested positive for mad cow disease, depriving American exporters of two of their largest overseas markets.
Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan and Australia followed suit...
Australia halts US beef imports
AUSTRALIA has placed a temporary hold on US beef imports following a mad cow disease scare in the United States, the agriculture minister said today.
"The Australian government has decided to temporarily hold beef products imported from the US at the border pending more information," Warren Truss said in a statement...
Taiwan halts US beef imports
TAIWAN today halted beef imports from the United States on fears of mad cow disease, joining several other Asian countries.
The move came after a cow in Washington state tested positive for mad cow disease.
If the disease was confirmed, U.S. beef would face a seven-year export ban, said Chiang Yi-nan, the chief of the COA's Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine.
Feds Hold Meat From OR Distributor
The discovery of the first suspected U.S. case of mad cow disease in nearby Washington state is cause for concern in Oregon, as federal inspectors instructed at least one local meat distributor to hold off its shipment.
"It's not going any place. We'll do what we have to do to keep the product from being distributed," said an official at the Willamette Valley Meat Company in Portland, who confirmed that inspectors had visited the meat facility earlier in the day.
But the company official, who refused to give his name, stressed that inspectors have not yet determined if the meat from a Holstein cow suspected of having the disease made its way to Portland. "We don't even know for sure if that cow was sent here," he said...
Dollar calm as market shuns mad cow case
The dollar traded in tight ranges against major currencies on Wednesday as a holiday-thinned market brushed aside robust U.S. data and news that mad cow disease had been discovered in the United States.
"There's a little bit of covering going on right now (due to the mad cow scare), but very few people are changing their positions because of it," said Toshihiro Azuma, a manager at Sumitomo Trust and Banking...
Canadian Cattlemen's Association to Stand Behind US Ranchers
As the United States awaits final test results from England which will confirm or deny the presence of mad cow in one Washington state animal, Canadian ranchers announce their intention to support their US counterparts.
The head of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, Neil Jahnke, said that US beef should not be shut out at Canadian borders, and that his industry will be standing behind US ranchers...
Mad cow fear seen stirring markets
Stocks of national restaurant chains that serve hamburgers and steaks dropped in after-hours trading yesterday, shaken by news of the first reported case of mad cow disease in the United States.
Analysts expected active trading today in the shares of companies such as McDonald's Corp. and cattle futures contracts that change hands on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange...
Seven Nations Halt U.S. Beef Imports
Japan and South Korea halted imports of U.S. beef on Wednesday after a cow in Washington state tested positive for mad cow disease, depriving American exporters of two of their largest overseas markets.
Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan and Australia followed suit...
Australia halts US beef imports
AUSTRALIA has placed a temporary hold on US beef imports following a mad cow disease scare in the United States, the agriculture minister said today.
"The Australian government has decided to temporarily hold beef products imported from the US at the border pending more information," Warren Truss said in a statement...
Discovery could fetter domestic beef sales
The possible discovery of mad cow disease in Washington state could dampen sales just as the beef industry is enjoying some of the highest prices on record and a 10 percent increase in demand since 1998.
.
“All cattle people have lived in dread of this, and if it does to American cattle prices what it did to Canadian cattle prices, producers are going to go broke,” says Mike Goldwasser, a producer from southwest Virginia.
.
A case of mad cow disease was discovered in Canada in May. The United States has banned live cattle imports from Canada since then, though some beef products are allowed.
.
While the discovery of bovine spongiform encephal-opathy is bad for beef — including growing export markets — it could lift prices of pork and other meats if consumers seek alternatives.
“The lack of information is what is going to drive (beef) prices in the near term,” says Harry Baumes, managing director of agricultural services at Global Insight.
.
The cattle industry is the largest segment of U.S. agriculture, with about 800,000 producers. In 2003, U.S. cash receipts from livestock and livestock products are expected to hit $98.3 billion, nearly half the forecast $202 billion in farm cash receipts, says analysis firm Cattle-Fax.
.
A fall in prices could hurt agriculture-dependent states, particularly in the West and Southwest, that had been reaping the benefits of an improved farm economy, including a runup in beef prices. Beef retail prices in November posted the highest one-month rise in 25 years, according to federal data. Prices have fallen in recent weeks.
.
Prices have been fueled by the low-carbohydrate, high-protein Atkins diet and drought-reduced supply.
The possible discovery of mad cow disease in Washington state could dampen sales just as the beef industry is enjoying some of the highest prices on record and a 10 percent increase in demand since 1998.
.
“All cattle people have lived in dread of this, and if it does to American cattle prices what it did to Canadian cattle prices, producers are going to go broke,” says Mike Goldwasser, a producer from southwest Virginia.
.
A case of mad cow disease was discovered in Canada in May. The United States has banned live cattle imports from Canada since then, though some beef products are allowed.
.
While the discovery of bovine spongiform encephal-opathy is bad for beef — including growing export markets — it could lift prices of pork and other meats if consumers seek alternatives.
“The lack of information is what is going to drive (beef) prices in the near term,” says Harry Baumes, managing director of agricultural services at Global Insight.
.
The cattle industry is the largest segment of U.S. agriculture, with about 800,000 producers. In 2003, U.S. cash receipts from livestock and livestock products are expected to hit $98.3 billion, nearly half the forecast $202 billion in farm cash receipts, says analysis firm Cattle-Fax.
.
A fall in prices could hurt agriculture-dependent states, particularly in the West and Southwest, that had been reaping the benefits of an improved farm economy, including a runup in beef prices. Beef retail prices in November posted the highest one-month rise in 25 years, according to federal data. Prices have fallen in recent weeks.
.
Prices have been fueled by the low-carbohydrate, high-protein Atkins diet and drought-reduced supply.
NEWS ROUNDUP
Administration Opens Alaska's Tongass Forest to Logging Capping more than 10 years of intense controversy over the fate of some of the nation's last remaining old-growth forest, the Bush administration yesterday finalized the opening of 300,000 acres of Alaska's Tongass National Forest for logging and other development. "This is the end of a very long process," said Mark Rey, undersecretary for natural resources and the environment at the Department of Agriculture, which oversees the national forest system. "We used the best scientific information available to strike a balance between protecting as much as we could . . . while maintaining a small part of the Tongass for use and management to sustain the 72,000 people who live in southeastern Alaska." The administration's action was not unexpected. After years of maneuvers and counter-maneuvers by advocates and opponents of Tongass logging and the involvement of all three branches of government, the Agriculture Department proposed its final rule in June as part of an agreement in which the state of Alaska -- which wanted the land opened -- promised to drop a lawsuit against the federal government...Southeast Alaska timber industry celebrates logging decision A decision by the Bush Administration to exempt prime timberland in the Tongass National Forest from Clinton-era logging protections was praised in Southeast Alaska on Tuesday. Steve Seley owns Pacific Log and Lumber in Ketchikan, one of the few sawmills still operating in the Panhandle. He recently completed a $1.4 million expansion and was counting on the decision to stay in business. Gov. Frank Murkowski -- a Republican who continued the lawsuit brought by his Democrat predecessor -- said it was good news for the struggling Southeast economy...Catron commissioners testify at U.S. House panel hearing Forage conditions cannot be improved without addressing forest health. Wildfire danger cannot be reduced without addressing forest health. Forest health cannot be addressed without involvement of local human resources and local solutions...Commissioners approve grazing ordinance The committee will advise the Catron County Board of Commissioners on strategies, methods and opportunities for improving range, watershed and livestock stewardship practices and programs. The committee will also develop, implement and foster healthy rangeland and livestock stewardship programs and practices in cooperation, consultation and coordination with the BLM, the U.S. Forest Service, and other agencies involved in range, watershed and livestock stewardship programs and practices...Endangered Species Act survives five decades
Thirty years ago this month, the Nixon administration and a nearly unanimous Congress celebrated the signing of the Endangered Species Act, the nation's premier law for the protection of biological diversity. That may have been the last time harmony reigned over anything related to the species protection law. Today, the act is more controversial than ever, with both supporters and critics agreeing that species protection has become mired in lawsuits and countersuits by environmentalists and industry. Administration officials and key Republican members of Congress say the act is fundamentally "broken" and needs to be rewritten. "The current act and the way it's been implemented has been a failure in recovery of species and, at the same time, it has caused a huge amount of conflict with private landowners," said House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif. "I don't think anybody can look at the act and say it has been a success."...Endangered Species Act fact box The Endangered Species Act, the nation's premier law protecting biological diversity, turns 30 this month. Here's a quick look at the law and some of the controversies related to it:...SIERRA CLUB PICKS WORST BUSH ADMINISTRATION ENVIRONMENTAL EXPLOITS OF 2003 Tripling allowable levels of mercury pollution, shifting the burden of toxic clean up from polluters to taxpayers, and undoing rules for cleaning up America's dirtiest power plants topped a laundry list of Bush administration exploits to weaken decades environmental progress in 2003. "The Bush administration is systematically turning back 30 years of environmental progress," said Carl Pope, Sierra Club executive director. "You really have to go back to the McKinley administration in the late 19th century to find so many gratuitous giveaways to special interests looking to exploit our air, water, and natural areas. Americans want a 21st century administration that can deliver forward-thinking environmental solutions."...Column: Another Big Green Election Year Raid History lesson time -- again. Anyone wondering how the hapless Big Greens would respond to their latest defeat, the passage of the Wyden/Feinstein Stealthy Timber Act (HFI), need look no further than the foundation-sponsored agenda of the Headwaters 13th Annual Forest Conference, set for this coming January 29th in Ashland, Oregon. With no current legislation slated (read: DC-based fundraising opportunities), the Big Greens have once again decided to mine the grassroots for issues they can take over and grab the money. Also as important to the Big Greens is delivering the grassroots vote to the Democratic Party. Both these entrenched goals nicely fall under the rubric of this year's conference -- titled, "Mobilizing the Grassroots in 2004." It's there, as well, in the impossibly inane choice of Les AuCoin featured in not one, but two two-and-a-half hour "State of the Movement" plenary sessions. AuCoin is titled, "Former Congressman and forest advocate" in the conference agenda. Of course, as a Congressman, the only forest advocating he did was for the forest to be horizontal...Kill grey squirrels to save the native reds (UK) WILDLIFE experts are urging people to trap and shoot grey squirrels in a bid to save the region's native red squirrel population from extinction. Red Alert North West is lending traps to residents in a bid to wipe out the grey squirrel at Formby red squirrel reserve - home to the region's largest population of the endangered species...A legal victory for endangered species An appellate court approved the state's new approach to saving endangered species yesterday, rejecting builders' arguments against the expanded protections. The state last year began restricting development around wetlands connected to other wetlands where endangered species had been seen. In the past, the state had just protected the immediate vicinity of the sighting...Management of thriving gray wolf debated The sound of success pierces the cold, still air like a stiletto. Howls of gray wolves announce their dominance over the food chain from the park's Lamar Valley to the ranches of Montana, less than a decade after wildlife biologists returned them to their traditional habitat. Bringing wolves back from the brink of extinction is being hailed as an ecological triumph, so much so that the federal government reclassified the animal this year from "endangered" to "threatened." The next step toward removal from the protected species list is for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to transfer responsibility for wolf management to game officials in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, possibly late next year...Local hawk becomes object of study The Laramie Raptor Refuge took in a ferruginous hawk that was found on a prairie near Laramie. The hawk could help scientists further their knowledge of West Nile virus. What Catherine Symchych, director of the refuge, finds most interesting about the bird is that testing has shown though WNV is not in the hawk's blood, the virus is in its feather follicles...Editorial: Political Science OVER THE PAST several days, the Bush administration has changed its mind about the scientific merits of two environmental issues. For this administration, which has so often preferred to stick to bad ideas rather than admit they are bad, and which has seemed so addicted to political manipulation of science, such changes are worth noting -- particularly as both are still open to further manipulation... Peril in the Wind Industry The freezers at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department in the Sacramento Valley are overflowing with the decapitated and mangled bodies of golden eagles, kestrels and red-tailed hawks, victims of the whirling blades of wind turbines. Scientists estimate as many as 44,000 birds have been killed over the past two decades by these towering machines in the Altamont Pass, east of San Francisco. Although the rows of spinning blades at Altamont Pass turn wind into electricity and make Alameda County less dependent on fossil fuel, they are also the end of the line for many predatory birds whose annual migration route includes the pass. The area is also home to the largest resident population of golden eagles in the lower 48 states. Concentrating on their prey on the ground, the birds fly into the blur of the windmill blades...Holy Waters Northern waters are freezing as you read this, forcing ducks and geese to head south. According to this year's waterfowl breeding survey, huge numbers of birds are headed your way. Will you be in the right spot when the flights are at their peak? If you want to be sure to get good hunting, head for one of these four holy waters of waterfowling -- places where the shooting is fast, the scenery is beautiful, and the birds never seem to stop flying...Unique facility looks for signs of foul play These are examples of evidence that comes into the National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory, the only one of its kind in the world. Like television's popular ``CSI'' show or real-life police crime labs elsewhere, this one examines evidence to try to link victim to crime scene to suspect. The only difference is that the victims here are animals...Judge stands by his snowmobiling rule; blames feds for timing A federal judge Tuesday refused to suspend his order to eliminate snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park by next winter. In clarifying his position, Judge Emmet Sullivan, of Washington, D.C., also blamed the federal government for the timing of his decision, which arrived the day before the park was scheduled to open for the winter season last week. The Blue Ribbon Coalition and the International Snowmobiling Manufacturers Association, both pro-snowmobile groups, and the state of Wyoming had asked for a stay of Sullivan's ruling. He denied that request Tuesday, finding "clear violations" of federal laws by the government and an absence of any persuasive new evidence...Park returning visitor deposits The main concession company at Yellowstone National Park has started refunding money to visitors who planned to snowmobile in the park this winter without a commercial guide. A federal judge on Dec. 16 overturned a Bush administration plan to set aside a ban on snowmobiles in favor of a allowing quieter and less polluting machines into Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. Because of the ruling, those who had reservations to come into Yellowstone without a commercial guide will not be allowed in. Hours after the ruling, Yellowstone Superintendent Suzanne Lewis said those people will get the cost of their reservation refunded...Editorial: Punished for the Truth UNLESS WISER HEADS in the upper reaches of the Bush administration prevail, underlings in the Interior Department are about to deliver a low blow to honesty and integrity in government. For responding with the truth to questions from The Post and other news outlets about staffing in her department, U.S. Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers has been placed on leave and notified that superiors in the National Park Service and Interior want her fired. And what was the chief's transgression? She said her understaffed department had to curtail critical patrols in Park Service jurisdictions beyond the Mall, such as major parkways and crime-ridden U.S. parkland in neighborhoods, because of Interior Department orders requiring more officers to guard downtown national shrines. The impending action ought to be reversed. Ms. Chambers should be commended for speaking up for public safety. The Interior Department underlings trying to muzzle her are the ones who should be on their way out the door...A Christmas Tree Grows -- and Grows -- in Oregon This is a story about a giant outdoor Christmas tree and a penny-pinching logger. To celebrate the season, the logger turns on the lights in the tree every day at 4:30 p.m. To save money, he turns them off at 11 p.m., when he figures everyone in the greater Boring area is either asleep or darn well should be. (The Portland suburb of Boring, by the way, owes its name not to a pervasive and localized ennui but to an early settler, W.H. Boring.) This story could begin 50 years before Columbus discovered America. That's when the logger's tree -- a Douglas fir -- was a seedling. It could also begin in 1949. That's when the logger, Glenn Althauser, then 21, bought a patch of wild wooded land and discovered the big tree on a bluff overlooking the roiling Clackamas River...the decorations are strung with a helicopter!...Gay footage will stay in Lincoln Memorial video Footage of gay rights demonstrations will not be removed from a videotape shown at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C, according to spokespeople from the National Park Service and the Human Rights Campaign. Earlier reports in various news outlets said the gay images would be removed...Animals Give an End of the Year Cheer; The Fund for Animals Celebrates 2003 Victories The Fund for Animals is celebrating a banner year for animal protection and looking back on some of the year's biggest achievements. "We have made great strides this year to improve the lives of animals across the country," said Michael Markarian, president of The Fund for Animals. "We hope to continue that success through 2004 and beyond." Some of The Fund's accomplishments this year include:...BLM burns juniper slash near Cedar Fort Cedar Fort residents who spotted columns of smoke on the mountain west of town on Monday Dec. 15 didn't need to worry about a wildfire. In fact, the smoke was from 200 small, controlled fires that the Bureau of Land Management set and monitored on BLM land in order to reduce the threat of wildfire to the town...Disease outbreak threatens bighorn sheep Arizona Game and Fish Department personnel are in the midst of a bighorn sheep roundup in the Silver Bell Mountains near Tucson. The biologists are capturing, treating, and releasing desert bighorn sheep in mountains located on the Ironwood Forest National Monument in an effort to protect these native animals from an outbreak of pink-eye, which can have fatal consequences if not treated. Pink-eye can lead to blindness � and that's a big problem for a bighorn...Pecos water lawsuit delaying water purchase program State Engineer John D'Antonio says the state has agreed to about $25 million worth of land and water rights purchases along the Pecos River, but can't close on them until a long-running water rights lawsuit is resolved. The state, federal water managers and several Pecos irrigation districts announced early this year they had reached a settlement agreement on a 50-year-old water rights adjudication case that focuses on the Carlsbad area. However, a few parties have filed notice that they intend to protest the proposed settlement... Column: Attorney General Lockyer's Hot Air Lawsuit So, when I read that several elected state attorneys general were suing the federal government to get more regulations over more of our life to "do something" about ''global warming,'' I got worried. These 11 attorneys general (including California's Bill Lockyer) want the Environmental Protection Agency to enact stringent new rules on emissions into the atmosphere. With variations in details, all the suits seek regulation of carbon dioxide emissions. Also all are founded on shaky science. Also all could cost you your job, your car, and/or many other nice things which you are accustomed to enjoying in our technologically advanced society...Presidential candidates stack up on eco-issues There's been a lot of political analysis concerning why former Vice President Al Gore backed Howard Dean for the Democratic presidential nomination and who in the party has the best chance of beating President Bush in the next election. But little has been said about which Democrat has the best chance of appealing to environmentalists. Green groups like the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Greenpeace have voiced strong opposition to White House policies on the environment. And the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), Washington's green political machine, says eco-issues may not always be the most important subjects to voters, but they're still influential in crucial swing states...EPA, NSF garner management honors The National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency received the Presidential Award for Management Excellence last week, the highest honors for management success in the federal government...Cloned half-asses from Idaho hold promise for livestock industry Today, the world's first cloned animals in the horse family, three half-asses from Idaho, are doing much better than many of the clones of other species. "They're developing normally and all quite healthy," said Dirk Vanderwall, professor of veterinary and animal science at the University of Idaho. "We're not seeing any of the health problems seen in the clones of other species like cattle or sheep." Between May and June, the team of researchers in Idaho and from Utah State University in Logan witnessed the birth of three genetically identical mules. Idaho Gem, Idaho Star and Utah Pioneer are all identical clones created using genes from the same fetal skin cell obtained from a family of champion racing mules, Vanderwall said...Nature Conservancy buys land near Yellowstone The Nature Conservancy of Idaho has bought an easement on a ranch west of Yellowstone National Park, preserving 158 acres from development while also protecting the land for cattle grazing, wildlife habitat and open space. The property owned by Gordon and Jane Hunt borders a piece of Henry's Lake shoreline protected by another easement...Nebraska restricts Wyoming cattle Nebraska has become the third state to impose restrictions on Wyoming cattle since a herd was found with brucellosis earlier this month, officials announced Tuesday. Colorado and California had earlier implemented restrictions after a herd in western Wyoming's Sublette County tested positive for the disease, which causes cattle to abort and, in rare cases, chronic flu-like symptoms in humans...Coyotes encroach suburbs, eat pets Some Laketon Township residents are fearful that coyotes in the area could be a threat to children as well as family pets. One of them, Lisa Knudsen-Gerling, says wandering coyotes recently snatched her Yorkshire terrier from her yard at 500 Buys, and have killed several neighborhood cats. She says an area resident reported seeing coyotes chewing on the siding of his house. "This is a little bit ridiculous," she said. "They're coming right up to the houses."...Argentina Pushes To Restart Beef Exports To U.S Argentina is eager to regain the 20,000-metric-ton market share for fresh beef that it once had in the United States, and officials are pressing the USDA to lift some of the restrictions placed on trade 2 1/2 years ago because of a cattle disease outbreak. USDA officials completed an exploratory mission this month to begin evaluating cattle conditions there, but Argentina Agriculture Minister Miguel Campos said he urged USDA Secretary Ann Veneman in a December meeting to accelerate the progress. The U.S. border slammed shut to Argentine beef in June 2001, after outbreaks of the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease were reported in northern regions of the country. USDA officials said, however, the department now believes cattle there had been infected far earlier...
Administration Opens Alaska's Tongass Forest to Logging Capping more than 10 years of intense controversy over the fate of some of the nation's last remaining old-growth forest, the Bush administration yesterday finalized the opening of 300,000 acres of Alaska's Tongass National Forest for logging and other development. "This is the end of a very long process," said Mark Rey, undersecretary for natural resources and the environment at the Department of Agriculture, which oversees the national forest system. "We used the best scientific information available to strike a balance between protecting as much as we could . . . while maintaining a small part of the Tongass for use and management to sustain the 72,000 people who live in southeastern Alaska." The administration's action was not unexpected. After years of maneuvers and counter-maneuvers by advocates and opponents of Tongass logging and the involvement of all three branches of government, the Agriculture Department proposed its final rule in June as part of an agreement in which the state of Alaska -- which wanted the land opened -- promised to drop a lawsuit against the federal government...Southeast Alaska timber industry celebrates logging decision A decision by the Bush Administration to exempt prime timberland in the Tongass National Forest from Clinton-era logging protections was praised in Southeast Alaska on Tuesday. Steve Seley owns Pacific Log and Lumber in Ketchikan, one of the few sawmills still operating in the Panhandle. He recently completed a $1.4 million expansion and was counting on the decision to stay in business. Gov. Frank Murkowski -- a Republican who continued the lawsuit brought by his Democrat predecessor -- said it was good news for the struggling Southeast economy...Catron commissioners testify at U.S. House panel hearing Forage conditions cannot be improved without addressing forest health. Wildfire danger cannot be reduced without addressing forest health. Forest health cannot be addressed without involvement of local human resources and local solutions...Commissioners approve grazing ordinance The committee will advise the Catron County Board of Commissioners on strategies, methods and opportunities for improving range, watershed and livestock stewardship practices and programs. The committee will also develop, implement and foster healthy rangeland and livestock stewardship programs and practices in cooperation, consultation and coordination with the BLM, the U.S. Forest Service, and other agencies involved in range, watershed and livestock stewardship programs and practices...Endangered Species Act survives five decades
Thirty years ago this month, the Nixon administration and a nearly unanimous Congress celebrated the signing of the Endangered Species Act, the nation's premier law for the protection of biological diversity. That may have been the last time harmony reigned over anything related to the species protection law. Today, the act is more controversial than ever, with both supporters and critics agreeing that species protection has become mired in lawsuits and countersuits by environmentalists and industry. Administration officials and key Republican members of Congress say the act is fundamentally "broken" and needs to be rewritten. "The current act and the way it's been implemented has been a failure in recovery of species and, at the same time, it has caused a huge amount of conflict with private landowners," said House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif. "I don't think anybody can look at the act and say it has been a success."...Endangered Species Act fact box The Endangered Species Act, the nation's premier law protecting biological diversity, turns 30 this month. Here's a quick look at the law and some of the controversies related to it:...SIERRA CLUB PICKS WORST BUSH ADMINISTRATION ENVIRONMENTAL EXPLOITS OF 2003 Tripling allowable levels of mercury pollution, shifting the burden of toxic clean up from polluters to taxpayers, and undoing rules for cleaning up America's dirtiest power plants topped a laundry list of Bush administration exploits to weaken decades environmental progress in 2003. "The Bush administration is systematically turning back 30 years of environmental progress," said Carl Pope, Sierra Club executive director. "You really have to go back to the McKinley administration in the late 19th century to find so many gratuitous giveaways to special interests looking to exploit our air, water, and natural areas. Americans want a 21st century administration that can deliver forward-thinking environmental solutions."...Column: Another Big Green Election Year Raid History lesson time -- again. Anyone wondering how the hapless Big Greens would respond to their latest defeat, the passage of the Wyden/Feinstein Stealthy Timber Act (HFI), need look no further than the foundation-sponsored agenda of the Headwaters 13th Annual Forest Conference, set for this coming January 29th in Ashland, Oregon. With no current legislation slated (read: DC-based fundraising opportunities), the Big Greens have once again decided to mine the grassroots for issues they can take over and grab the money. Also as important to the Big Greens is delivering the grassroots vote to the Democratic Party. Both these entrenched goals nicely fall under the rubric of this year's conference -- titled, "Mobilizing the Grassroots in 2004." It's there, as well, in the impossibly inane choice of Les AuCoin featured in not one, but two two-and-a-half hour "State of the Movement" plenary sessions. AuCoin is titled, "Former Congressman and forest advocate" in the conference agenda. Of course, as a Congressman, the only forest advocating he did was for the forest to be horizontal...Kill grey squirrels to save the native reds (UK) WILDLIFE experts are urging people to trap and shoot grey squirrels in a bid to save the region's native red squirrel population from extinction. Red Alert North West is lending traps to residents in a bid to wipe out the grey squirrel at Formby red squirrel reserve - home to the region's largest population of the endangered species...A legal victory for endangered species An appellate court approved the state's new approach to saving endangered species yesterday, rejecting builders' arguments against the expanded protections. The state last year began restricting development around wetlands connected to other wetlands where endangered species had been seen. In the past, the state had just protected the immediate vicinity of the sighting...Management of thriving gray wolf debated The sound of success pierces the cold, still air like a stiletto. Howls of gray wolves announce their dominance over the food chain from the park's Lamar Valley to the ranches of Montana, less than a decade after wildlife biologists returned them to their traditional habitat. Bringing wolves back from the brink of extinction is being hailed as an ecological triumph, so much so that the federal government reclassified the animal this year from "endangered" to "threatened." The next step toward removal from the protected species list is for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to transfer responsibility for wolf management to game officials in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, possibly late next year...Local hawk becomes object of study The Laramie Raptor Refuge took in a ferruginous hawk that was found on a prairie near Laramie. The hawk could help scientists further their knowledge of West Nile virus. What Catherine Symchych, director of the refuge, finds most interesting about the bird is that testing has shown though WNV is not in the hawk's blood, the virus is in its feather follicles...Editorial: Political Science OVER THE PAST several days, the Bush administration has changed its mind about the scientific merits of two environmental issues. For this administration, which has so often preferred to stick to bad ideas rather than admit they are bad, and which has seemed so addicted to political manipulation of science, such changes are worth noting -- particularly as both are still open to further manipulation... Peril in the Wind Industry The freezers at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department in the Sacramento Valley are overflowing with the decapitated and mangled bodies of golden eagles, kestrels and red-tailed hawks, victims of the whirling blades of wind turbines. Scientists estimate as many as 44,000 birds have been killed over the past two decades by these towering machines in the Altamont Pass, east of San Francisco. Although the rows of spinning blades at Altamont Pass turn wind into electricity and make Alameda County less dependent on fossil fuel, they are also the end of the line for many predatory birds whose annual migration route includes the pass. The area is also home to the largest resident population of golden eagles in the lower 48 states. Concentrating on their prey on the ground, the birds fly into the blur of the windmill blades...Holy Waters Northern waters are freezing as you read this, forcing ducks and geese to head south. According to this year's waterfowl breeding survey, huge numbers of birds are headed your way. Will you be in the right spot when the flights are at their peak? If you want to be sure to get good hunting, head for one of these four holy waters of waterfowling -- places where the shooting is fast, the scenery is beautiful, and the birds never seem to stop flying...Unique facility looks for signs of foul play These are examples of evidence that comes into the National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory, the only one of its kind in the world. Like television's popular ``CSI'' show or real-life police crime labs elsewhere, this one examines evidence to try to link victim to crime scene to suspect. The only difference is that the victims here are animals...Judge stands by his snowmobiling rule; blames feds for timing A federal judge Tuesday refused to suspend his order to eliminate snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park by next winter. In clarifying his position, Judge Emmet Sullivan, of Washington, D.C., also blamed the federal government for the timing of his decision, which arrived the day before the park was scheduled to open for the winter season last week. The Blue Ribbon Coalition and the International Snowmobiling Manufacturers Association, both pro-snowmobile groups, and the state of Wyoming had asked for a stay of Sullivan's ruling. He denied that request Tuesday, finding "clear violations" of federal laws by the government and an absence of any persuasive new evidence...Park returning visitor deposits The main concession company at Yellowstone National Park has started refunding money to visitors who planned to snowmobile in the park this winter without a commercial guide. A federal judge on Dec. 16 overturned a Bush administration plan to set aside a ban on snowmobiles in favor of a allowing quieter and less polluting machines into Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. Because of the ruling, those who had reservations to come into Yellowstone without a commercial guide will not be allowed in. Hours after the ruling, Yellowstone Superintendent Suzanne Lewis said those people will get the cost of their reservation refunded...Editorial: Punished for the Truth UNLESS WISER HEADS in the upper reaches of the Bush administration prevail, underlings in the Interior Department are about to deliver a low blow to honesty and integrity in government. For responding with the truth to questions from The Post and other news outlets about staffing in her department, U.S. Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers has been placed on leave and notified that superiors in the National Park Service and Interior want her fired. And what was the chief's transgression? She said her understaffed department had to curtail critical patrols in Park Service jurisdictions beyond the Mall, such as major parkways and crime-ridden U.S. parkland in neighborhoods, because of Interior Department orders requiring more officers to guard downtown national shrines. The impending action ought to be reversed. Ms. Chambers should be commended for speaking up for public safety. The Interior Department underlings trying to muzzle her are the ones who should be on their way out the door...A Christmas Tree Grows -- and Grows -- in Oregon This is a story about a giant outdoor Christmas tree and a penny-pinching logger. To celebrate the season, the logger turns on the lights in the tree every day at 4:30 p.m. To save money, he turns them off at 11 p.m., when he figures everyone in the greater Boring area is either asleep or darn well should be. (The Portland suburb of Boring, by the way, owes its name not to a pervasive and localized ennui but to an early settler, W.H. Boring.) This story could begin 50 years before Columbus discovered America. That's when the logger's tree -- a Douglas fir -- was a seedling. It could also begin in 1949. That's when the logger, Glenn Althauser, then 21, bought a patch of wild wooded land and discovered the big tree on a bluff overlooking the roiling Clackamas River...the decorations are strung with a helicopter!...Gay footage will stay in Lincoln Memorial video Footage of gay rights demonstrations will not be removed from a videotape shown at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C, according to spokespeople from the National Park Service and the Human Rights Campaign. Earlier reports in various news outlets said the gay images would be removed...Animals Give an End of the Year Cheer; The Fund for Animals Celebrates 2003 Victories The Fund for Animals is celebrating a banner year for animal protection and looking back on some of the year's biggest achievements. "We have made great strides this year to improve the lives of animals across the country," said Michael Markarian, president of The Fund for Animals. "We hope to continue that success through 2004 and beyond." Some of The Fund's accomplishments this year include:...BLM burns juniper slash near Cedar Fort Cedar Fort residents who spotted columns of smoke on the mountain west of town on Monday Dec. 15 didn't need to worry about a wildfire. In fact, the smoke was from 200 small, controlled fires that the Bureau of Land Management set and monitored on BLM land in order to reduce the threat of wildfire to the town...Disease outbreak threatens bighorn sheep Arizona Game and Fish Department personnel are in the midst of a bighorn sheep roundup in the Silver Bell Mountains near Tucson. The biologists are capturing, treating, and releasing desert bighorn sheep in mountains located on the Ironwood Forest National Monument in an effort to protect these native animals from an outbreak of pink-eye, which can have fatal consequences if not treated. Pink-eye can lead to blindness � and that's a big problem for a bighorn...Pecos water lawsuit delaying water purchase program State Engineer John D'Antonio says the state has agreed to about $25 million worth of land and water rights purchases along the Pecos River, but can't close on them until a long-running water rights lawsuit is resolved. The state, federal water managers and several Pecos irrigation districts announced early this year they had reached a settlement agreement on a 50-year-old water rights adjudication case that focuses on the Carlsbad area. However, a few parties have filed notice that they intend to protest the proposed settlement... Column: Attorney General Lockyer's Hot Air Lawsuit So, when I read that several elected state attorneys general were suing the federal government to get more regulations over more of our life to "do something" about ''global warming,'' I got worried. These 11 attorneys general (including California's Bill Lockyer) want the Environmental Protection Agency to enact stringent new rules on emissions into the atmosphere. With variations in details, all the suits seek regulation of carbon dioxide emissions. Also all are founded on shaky science. Also all could cost you your job, your car, and/or many other nice things which you are accustomed to enjoying in our technologically advanced society...Presidential candidates stack up on eco-issues There's been a lot of political analysis concerning why former Vice President Al Gore backed Howard Dean for the Democratic presidential nomination and who in the party has the best chance of beating President Bush in the next election. But little has been said about which Democrat has the best chance of appealing to environmentalists. Green groups like the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Greenpeace have voiced strong opposition to White House policies on the environment. And the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), Washington's green political machine, says eco-issues may not always be the most important subjects to voters, but they're still influential in crucial swing states...EPA, NSF garner management honors The National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency received the Presidential Award for Management Excellence last week, the highest honors for management success in the federal government...Cloned half-asses from Idaho hold promise for livestock industry Today, the world's first cloned animals in the horse family, three half-asses from Idaho, are doing much better than many of the clones of other species. "They're developing normally and all quite healthy," said Dirk Vanderwall, professor of veterinary and animal science at the University of Idaho. "We're not seeing any of the health problems seen in the clones of other species like cattle or sheep." Between May and June, the team of researchers in Idaho and from Utah State University in Logan witnessed the birth of three genetically identical mules. Idaho Gem, Idaho Star and Utah Pioneer are all identical clones created using genes from the same fetal skin cell obtained from a family of champion racing mules, Vanderwall said...Nature Conservancy buys land near Yellowstone The Nature Conservancy of Idaho has bought an easement on a ranch west of Yellowstone National Park, preserving 158 acres from development while also protecting the land for cattle grazing, wildlife habitat and open space. The property owned by Gordon and Jane Hunt borders a piece of Henry's Lake shoreline protected by another easement...Nebraska restricts Wyoming cattle Nebraska has become the third state to impose restrictions on Wyoming cattle since a herd was found with brucellosis earlier this month, officials announced Tuesday. Colorado and California had earlier implemented restrictions after a herd in western Wyoming's Sublette County tested positive for the disease, which causes cattle to abort and, in rare cases, chronic flu-like symptoms in humans...Coyotes encroach suburbs, eat pets Some Laketon Township residents are fearful that coyotes in the area could be a threat to children as well as family pets. One of them, Lisa Knudsen-Gerling, says wandering coyotes recently snatched her Yorkshire terrier from her yard at 500 Buys, and have killed several neighborhood cats. She says an area resident reported seeing coyotes chewing on the siding of his house. "This is a little bit ridiculous," she said. "They're coming right up to the houses."...Argentina Pushes To Restart Beef Exports To U.S Argentina is eager to regain the 20,000-metric-ton market share for fresh beef that it once had in the United States, and officials are pressing the USDA to lift some of the restrictions placed on trade 2 1/2 years ago because of a cattle disease outbreak. USDA officials completed an exploratory mission this month to begin evaluating cattle conditions there, but Argentina Agriculture Minister Miguel Campos said he urged USDA Secretary Ann Veneman in a December meeting to accelerate the progress. The U.S. border slammed shut to Argentine beef in June 2001, after outbreaks of the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease were reported in northern regions of the country. USDA officials said, however, the department now believes cattle there had been infected far earlier...
USDA refused to release mad cow records
WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Although the United States Department of Agriculture insisted the U.S. beef supply is safe Tuesday after announcing the first documented case of mad cow disease in the United States, the agency for six months repeatedly refused to release its tests for mad cow to United Press International.
The USDA claims to have tested approximately 20,000 cows for the disease in 2002 and 2003, but has been unable to provide any documentation in support of this to UPI, which first requested the information in July.
In addition, former USDA veterinarians tell UPI they have long suspected the disease was in U.S herds and there are probably additional infected animals.
USDA Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced late Tuesday during a hastily scheduled news briefing that a cow slaughtered Dec. 9 on a farm in Mabton, Wash., had tested positive for mad cow disease. The farm has been quarantined but the meat from the animal may have already passed into the human food supply.
The slaughtered meat was sent for processing to Midway Meats in Washington and the USDA is currently trying to trace if the meat went for human consumption, Veneman said.
The fear is mad cow disease can infect humans and cause a brain-wasting condition known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease that is always fatal. More than 100 people contracted this disease in the United Kingdom after a widespread outbreak of mad cow disease in that country in the 1980s.
An outbreak of mad cow disease in the United States has the potential to dwarf the situation in the United Kingdom because the American beef industry is far larger and U.S. beef is exported to countries all over the globe.
"We're talking about billions of people" around the world who potentially have been exposed to U.S. beef, Lester Friedlander, a former USDA veterinarian who has been insisting mad cow is present in American herds for years, told UPI.
The USDA insisted the case is probably isolated and the US beef supply is safe. "I plan to serve beef for my Christmas dinner," Veneman said, "and we remain confident in the safety of our food supply."
Responded Friedlander: "She might as well kiss her (behind) goodbye, then."
Veneman went on to say she had confidence in the USDA surveillance system for detecting mad cow and protecting the public, noting the agency has tested more than 20,000 cattle for the disease this year.
This represents only a small percentage of the millions of cows in the U.S. herd, however, and experts say current procedures are unlikely to detect mad cow.
The Washington cow was tested because it was a so-called downer cow -- a cow unable to stand on its own -- which is a sign of mad cow disease. However, the United States sees approximately 200,000 of these per year or about 10 times as many animals are tested for the disease.
USDA officials told UPI as recently as Dec. 17 the agency still is searching for documentation of its mad cow testing results from 2002 and 2003.
UPI initially requested the documents on July 10, and the agency sent a response letter dated July 24, saying it had launched a search for any documents pertaining to mad cow tests from 2002 and 2003.
"If any documents exist, they will be forwarded," USDA official Michael Marquis wrote in the letter.
Despite this and a 30-day limit under the Freedom of Information Act on responding to such a request, the USDA never sent any corresponding documents. The agency's FOI office also did not return several calls from UPI placed over a series of months.
Finally, UPI threatened legal action in early December if the agency did not respond.
In a Dec. 17 letter to UPI from USDA Freedom of Information Act Office Andrea E. Fowler, the agency wrote: "Your request has been forwarded to the (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) for processing and to search for the record responsive to your earlier request."
To date, the USDA has not said if any records exist or if they will be sent to UPI.
"It's always concerned me that they haven't used the same rapid testing technique that's used in Europe," where mad cow has been detected in several additional countries outside of the United Kingdom, Michael Schwochert, a retired USDA veterinarian in Ft. Morgan, Colo., told UPI.
"It was almost like they didn't want to find mad cow disease," Schwochert said.
He noted he had been informed that approximately six months ago a cow displaying symptoms suggestive of mad cow disease showed up at the X-cel slaughtering plant in Ft. Morgan.
Once cows are unloaded off the truck they are required to be inspected by USDA veterinarians. However, the cow was spotted by plant employees before USDA officials saw it and "it went back out on a special truck and they called the guys in the office and said don't say anything about this," Schwochert said.
Veneman said the Washington case "does not pose any kind of significant risk to the human food chain."
Friedlander called that assessment, aptly enough, "B.S." Referring to the USDA's failure to provide their testing documentation to UPI, he said, "The government doesn't have records to substantiate their testing so how do they know whether this is an isolated case." The agency also cannot provide any assurance that this animal did not get processed for human consumption, he said.
Schwochert agreed with that, saying the USDA's sparse testing means they cannot say with any confidence whether there are additional cases or not.
Both Schwochert and Friedlander said the report of a mad cow case would devastate the U.S. beef industry.
"It scares the hell out of me what it's going to do to the cattle industry," Schwochert said. "This could be catastrophic."
Only hours after Veneman's announcement, Japan -- the biggest importer of U.S. beef -- and South Korea both banned the importation of American meat.
The American Meat Institute, a trade group in Arlington, Va., representing the U.S. meat and poultry industry, maintained the U.S. beef supply is safe for human consumption.
"First and foremost, the U.S. beef supply is safe," AMI spokesman Dan Murphy told UPI. "We think its safe for U.S. consumers to eat."
This is because infectious prions, thought to be the causative agent of mad cow and vCJD, are not found in muscle tissue that comprises hamburgers and steaks, he said. They are generally located in brain and spinal cord tissue.
However, recent studies have suggested prions may occur, albeit in smaller numbers, in muscle tissue, and bits of brain and spinal cord tissue have been detected in hamburger meat.
Other protective measures have also been put in place that should protect consumers, Murphy said.
Mad cow disease is thought to be spread by feeding infected cow tissue back to cattle -- a practice that was common in the United Kingdom and is thought to have contributed to their widespread outbreak. The practice has been banned in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration since 1997, which should help ensure this is "an isolated case," Murphy said.
A report from the General Accounting Office issued just last year, however, found some ranchers in the United States still violate the feed ban and do feed cow tissue to cattle.
The GAO concluded: "While (mad cow disease) has not been found in the United States, federal actions do not sufficiently ensure that all (mad cow)-infected animals or products are kept out or that if (mad cow) were found, it would be detected promptly and not spread to other cattle through animal feed or enter the human food supply."
--
Steve Mitchell is UPI's medical correspondent. E-mail sciencemail@upi.com
WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Although the United States Department of Agriculture insisted the U.S. beef supply is safe Tuesday after announcing the first documented case of mad cow disease in the United States, the agency for six months repeatedly refused to release its tests for mad cow to United Press International.
The USDA claims to have tested approximately 20,000 cows for the disease in 2002 and 2003, but has been unable to provide any documentation in support of this to UPI, which first requested the information in July.
In addition, former USDA veterinarians tell UPI they have long suspected the disease was in U.S herds and there are probably additional infected animals.
USDA Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced late Tuesday during a hastily scheduled news briefing that a cow slaughtered Dec. 9 on a farm in Mabton, Wash., had tested positive for mad cow disease. The farm has been quarantined but the meat from the animal may have already passed into the human food supply.
The slaughtered meat was sent for processing to Midway Meats in Washington and the USDA is currently trying to trace if the meat went for human consumption, Veneman said.
The fear is mad cow disease can infect humans and cause a brain-wasting condition known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease that is always fatal. More than 100 people contracted this disease in the United Kingdom after a widespread outbreak of mad cow disease in that country in the 1980s.
An outbreak of mad cow disease in the United States has the potential to dwarf the situation in the United Kingdom because the American beef industry is far larger and U.S. beef is exported to countries all over the globe.
"We're talking about billions of people" around the world who potentially have been exposed to U.S. beef, Lester Friedlander, a former USDA veterinarian who has been insisting mad cow is present in American herds for years, told UPI.
The USDA insisted the case is probably isolated and the US beef supply is safe. "I plan to serve beef for my Christmas dinner," Veneman said, "and we remain confident in the safety of our food supply."
Responded Friedlander: "She might as well kiss her (behind) goodbye, then."
Veneman went on to say she had confidence in the USDA surveillance system for detecting mad cow and protecting the public, noting the agency has tested more than 20,000 cattle for the disease this year.
This represents only a small percentage of the millions of cows in the U.S. herd, however, and experts say current procedures are unlikely to detect mad cow.
The Washington cow was tested because it was a so-called downer cow -- a cow unable to stand on its own -- which is a sign of mad cow disease. However, the United States sees approximately 200,000 of these per year or about 10 times as many animals are tested for the disease.
USDA officials told UPI as recently as Dec. 17 the agency still is searching for documentation of its mad cow testing results from 2002 and 2003.
UPI initially requested the documents on July 10, and the agency sent a response letter dated July 24, saying it had launched a search for any documents pertaining to mad cow tests from 2002 and 2003.
"If any documents exist, they will be forwarded," USDA official Michael Marquis wrote in the letter.
Despite this and a 30-day limit under the Freedom of Information Act on responding to such a request, the USDA never sent any corresponding documents. The agency's FOI office also did not return several calls from UPI placed over a series of months.
Finally, UPI threatened legal action in early December if the agency did not respond.
In a Dec. 17 letter to UPI from USDA Freedom of Information Act Office Andrea E. Fowler, the agency wrote: "Your request has been forwarded to the (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) for processing and to search for the record responsive to your earlier request."
To date, the USDA has not said if any records exist or if they will be sent to UPI.
"It's always concerned me that they haven't used the same rapid testing technique that's used in Europe," where mad cow has been detected in several additional countries outside of the United Kingdom, Michael Schwochert, a retired USDA veterinarian in Ft. Morgan, Colo., told UPI.
"It was almost like they didn't want to find mad cow disease," Schwochert said.
He noted he had been informed that approximately six months ago a cow displaying symptoms suggestive of mad cow disease showed up at the X-cel slaughtering plant in Ft. Morgan.
Once cows are unloaded off the truck they are required to be inspected by USDA veterinarians. However, the cow was spotted by plant employees before USDA officials saw it and "it went back out on a special truck and they called the guys in the office and said don't say anything about this," Schwochert said.
Veneman said the Washington case "does not pose any kind of significant risk to the human food chain."
Friedlander called that assessment, aptly enough, "B.S." Referring to the USDA's failure to provide their testing documentation to UPI, he said, "The government doesn't have records to substantiate their testing so how do they know whether this is an isolated case." The agency also cannot provide any assurance that this animal did not get processed for human consumption, he said.
Schwochert agreed with that, saying the USDA's sparse testing means they cannot say with any confidence whether there are additional cases or not.
Both Schwochert and Friedlander said the report of a mad cow case would devastate the U.S. beef industry.
"It scares the hell out of me what it's going to do to the cattle industry," Schwochert said. "This could be catastrophic."
Only hours after Veneman's announcement, Japan -- the biggest importer of U.S. beef -- and South Korea both banned the importation of American meat.
The American Meat Institute, a trade group in Arlington, Va., representing the U.S. meat and poultry industry, maintained the U.S. beef supply is safe for human consumption.
"First and foremost, the U.S. beef supply is safe," AMI spokesman Dan Murphy told UPI. "We think its safe for U.S. consumers to eat."
This is because infectious prions, thought to be the causative agent of mad cow and vCJD, are not found in muscle tissue that comprises hamburgers and steaks, he said. They are generally located in brain and spinal cord tissue.
However, recent studies have suggested prions may occur, albeit in smaller numbers, in muscle tissue, and bits of brain and spinal cord tissue have been detected in hamburger meat.
Other protective measures have also been put in place that should protect consumers, Murphy said.
Mad cow disease is thought to be spread by feeding infected cow tissue back to cattle -- a practice that was common in the United Kingdom and is thought to have contributed to their widespread outbreak. The practice has been banned in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration since 1997, which should help ensure this is "an isolated case," Murphy said.
A report from the General Accounting Office issued just last year, however, found some ranchers in the United States still violate the feed ban and do feed cow tissue to cattle.
The GAO concluded: "While (mad cow disease) has not been found in the United States, federal actions do not sufficiently ensure that all (mad cow)-infected animals or products are kept out or that if (mad cow) were found, it would be detected promptly and not spread to other cattle through animal feed or enter the human food supply."
--
Steve Mitchell is UPI's medical correspondent. E-mail sciencemail@upi.com
Beef industry sweats over 'mad cow' spectre
The discovery of a suspected case of mad cow disease in Washington state could deal a heavy blow to the livestock industry and other beef-dependent businesses, possibly even U.S. restaurant chains.
Japan and South Korea temporarily halted imports of U.S. beef Tuesday and there is concern that other countries will follow, cutting off a critical market for U.S. beef producers, especially for higher-priced cuts. U.S. beef and veal exports to Japan alone were valued at about $843 million in 2002. There is precedent for a shutout of beef imports: When a single case of mad cow disease was detected in Canada in May, the United States immediately closed its borders to imports of Canadian beef, as did many other countries.
Restaurant chains also are likely to be hurt by the discovery, both in the stock market and possibly in sales. Indeed, stocks of the major fast-food chains fell in extended trading Tuesday, and those declines will likely continue today. The drops could be even more severe today because it is a short trading day that typically has light volume, which exacerbates volatility in the market.
Some analysts predict the hardest-hit businesses may be restaurants that specialize in red meat -- from mass-market chains like Outback Steakhouse to, perhaps, the tonier purveyors of $23 filets.
"This is also about the higher-end steakhouses," said John Glass, a restaurant analyst with CIBC World Markets, who does not own any restaurant industry stocks. "There's less latitude on the menu. You can go to McDonald's and get chicken."
Still, for chains like McDonald's and Burger King, the fear of public reaction is real. In some countries, such as Germany and Japan, consumption of beef fell as much as 30 percent immediately after the discovery of mad cow disease -- although in Canada, the nation rallied around its beef industry and meat consumption actually increased.
Right now, no one knows just how the U.S. public will react, but the nation's biggest restaurant chains already have started a campaign to assure customers that their beef supplies are safe.
"The meat packer in question has no connection whatsoever to McDonald's supply chain," said a statement from the nation's largest fast food company Tuesday night. The company expressed confidence that U.S. regulators "are investigating this situation very seriously and are taking all the appropriate steps necessary to safeguard the beef supply."
Ironically, the beef industry has been enjoying several years of growing consumption and higher prices, which some experts attribute to the popularity of the meat-centered Atkins diet. The industry's value is estimated at $175 billion by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
"In the last three years we've seen a significant increase in beef demand and consumption," said John Nalivka, a consultant to the cattle industry. But that could change quickly if mad cow disease is in fact present in a U.S. livestock operation.
"I'm not going to play it down," he said. "It's obviously a concern."
The discovery of a suspected case of mad cow disease in Washington state could deal a heavy blow to the livestock industry and other beef-dependent businesses, possibly even U.S. restaurant chains.
Japan and South Korea temporarily halted imports of U.S. beef Tuesday and there is concern that other countries will follow, cutting off a critical market for U.S. beef producers, especially for higher-priced cuts. U.S. beef and veal exports to Japan alone were valued at about $843 million in 2002. There is precedent for a shutout of beef imports: When a single case of mad cow disease was detected in Canada in May, the United States immediately closed its borders to imports of Canadian beef, as did many other countries.
Restaurant chains also are likely to be hurt by the discovery, both in the stock market and possibly in sales. Indeed, stocks of the major fast-food chains fell in extended trading Tuesday, and those declines will likely continue today. The drops could be even more severe today because it is a short trading day that typically has light volume, which exacerbates volatility in the market.
Some analysts predict the hardest-hit businesses may be restaurants that specialize in red meat -- from mass-market chains like Outback Steakhouse to, perhaps, the tonier purveyors of $23 filets.
"This is also about the higher-end steakhouses," said John Glass, a restaurant analyst with CIBC World Markets, who does not own any restaurant industry stocks. "There's less latitude on the menu. You can go to McDonald's and get chicken."
Still, for chains like McDonald's and Burger King, the fear of public reaction is real. In some countries, such as Germany and Japan, consumption of beef fell as much as 30 percent immediately after the discovery of mad cow disease -- although in Canada, the nation rallied around its beef industry and meat consumption actually increased.
Right now, no one knows just how the U.S. public will react, but the nation's biggest restaurant chains already have started a campaign to assure customers that their beef supplies are safe.
"The meat packer in question has no connection whatsoever to McDonald's supply chain," said a statement from the nation's largest fast food company Tuesday night. The company expressed confidence that U.S. regulators "are investigating this situation very seriously and are taking all the appropriate steps necessary to safeguard the beef supply."
Ironically, the beef industry has been enjoying several years of growing consumption and higher prices, which some experts attribute to the popularity of the meat-centered Atkins diet. The industry's value is estimated at $175 billion by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
"In the last three years we've seen a significant increase in beef demand and consumption," said John Nalivka, a consultant to the cattle industry. But that could change quickly if mad cow disease is in fact present in a U.S. livestock operation.
"I'm not going to play it down," he said. "It's obviously a concern."
*
Two more countries ban US beef.
Malaysia joins beef bans
MALAYSIA has suspended the import of beef from the United States because of mad cow disease fears, matching similar action taken by other Asian governments.
The decision, which took effect immediately, was a "precautionary step," Hawari Hussein, director general of the Department of Veterinary Services, told The Associated Press.
Mr Hawari said the move would not have much impact on consumers in Malaysia, which imports about 290 tons of beef annually from the United States...
Singapore bans US beef imports
SINGAPORE has banned beef imports from the United States on fears of mad cow disease. The ban could last at least six years.
The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore said the suspension of US beef imports went into effect immediately.
The move came after a cow in Washington state tested positive for Bovine Spongiform Enchephalophalopathy, or mad cow disease.
Singapore would not import beef from the United States again until it certifies that it has been free of the disease for six years, the authority said in a statement.
Singapore imposed a similar ban on Canadian beef in May following a case of the illness in northern Alberta.
Singapore this year imported 988 tons of beef from the United States, valued at 12.2 million Singapore dollars, it said...
Two more countries ban US beef.
Malaysia joins beef bans
MALAYSIA has suspended the import of beef from the United States because of mad cow disease fears, matching similar action taken by other Asian governments.
The decision, which took effect immediately, was a "precautionary step," Hawari Hussein, director general of the Department of Veterinary Services, told The Associated Press.
Mr Hawari said the move would not have much impact on consumers in Malaysia, which imports about 290 tons of beef annually from the United States...
Singapore bans US beef imports
SINGAPORE has banned beef imports from the United States on fears of mad cow disease. The ban could last at least six years.
The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore said the suspension of US beef imports went into effect immediately.
The move came after a cow in Washington state tested positive for Bovine Spongiform Enchephalophalopathy, or mad cow disease.
Singapore would not import beef from the United States again until it certifies that it has been free of the disease for six years, the authority said in a statement.
Singapore imposed a similar ban on Canadian beef in May following a case of the illness in northern Alberta.
Singapore this year imported 988 tons of beef from the United States, valued at 12.2 million Singapore dollars, it said...
Minnesota ranchers brace for domino effect
Minnesota ranchers and animal-health officials were awaiting the fallout today on what many see as the worst crisis to hit the U.S. beef industry: the first presumed case of mad cow disease in the nation.
After the discovery of the disease in a dairy cow in Washington state, Japan and South Korea became the earliest in a string of nations expected to close their borders to U.S. beef exports -- just as they and the United States did to Canadian beef after a lone case of mad cow disease was diagnosed in Canada last May.
The U.S. announcement of a preliminary finding of mad cow, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), came after domestic livestock markets had closed Tuesday. It's expected to send cattle and beef prices tumbling today as some consumers decide to avoid that meat.
Minnesota's beef sector drew $891 million in farm receipts in 2001, the most recent figures available. The state has about 2.47 million head of beef and dairy cattle valued at $1.9 billion.
Ranchers such as Steve Brake, president of the Minnesota State Cattlemen's Association, said they hope the U.S. investigation will proceed quickly and reassure consumers that U.S. beef is safe.
"We have to get out there and stand up and say, 'This one case is not going to devastate the food supply in our country,' " Brake said.
Minnesota officials had not changed any rules on import or export of cattle as of Tuesday night. They were awaiting more information from the lead federal agency, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"It's a very important event," said Paul Anderson, assistant director of the Minnesota Board of Animal Health. "We're certainly watching it very closely."
At Cargill Inc., the global agribusiness giant headquartered in Minnetonka, spokesman Mark Klein and other officials in the company's beef business were gauging the Japanese market and waiting to see what will happen on the futures market in Chicago today.
Before the ban on Canadian beef, Canada exported 70 percent of its beef to the United States and also exported to more than 30 other nations.
After its case was discovered, Canada's cattle markets slowed to a trickle, beef cattle fattened and lost value, and ranchers lost millions of dollars collectively. Yet Canadian consumption of beef remained relatively strong.
The United States consumes most of its domestic beef supply, exporting only about 10 percent of its supply, said Ron Eustice, executive director of the Minnesota Beef Council.
Prices tumble
On Tuesday, companies that rely on beef sales saw their stock prices fall in after-hours trading. Shares of CKE Restaurants, which owns the Timber Lodge Steakhouse, Hardee's and Carl's Jr. chains, fell as much as 7.1 percent, while McDonald's dropped 3.7 percent and Wendy's fell 2.3 percent.
On the other hand, shares of Australian Agricultural Co. rose as much as 6.4 percent as investors bet that demand for Aussie beef will increase. Australia is the world's largest beef exporter.
After the news May 20 that BSE had been found in Canada, U.S. beef prices tumbled about 5 percent. But they quickly rebounded, rallying nearly 50 percent to the highest levels since futures trading began in 1986...
Minnesota ranchers and animal-health officials were awaiting the fallout today on what many see as the worst crisis to hit the U.S. beef industry: the first presumed case of mad cow disease in the nation.
After the discovery of the disease in a dairy cow in Washington state, Japan and South Korea became the earliest in a string of nations expected to close their borders to U.S. beef exports -- just as they and the United States did to Canadian beef after a lone case of mad cow disease was diagnosed in Canada last May.
The U.S. announcement of a preliminary finding of mad cow, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), came after domestic livestock markets had closed Tuesday. It's expected to send cattle and beef prices tumbling today as some consumers decide to avoid that meat.
Minnesota's beef sector drew $891 million in farm receipts in 2001, the most recent figures available. The state has about 2.47 million head of beef and dairy cattle valued at $1.9 billion.
Ranchers such as Steve Brake, president of the Minnesota State Cattlemen's Association, said they hope the U.S. investigation will proceed quickly and reassure consumers that U.S. beef is safe.
"We have to get out there and stand up and say, 'This one case is not going to devastate the food supply in our country,' " Brake said.
Minnesota officials had not changed any rules on import or export of cattle as of Tuesday night. They were awaiting more information from the lead federal agency, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"It's a very important event," said Paul Anderson, assistant director of the Minnesota Board of Animal Health. "We're certainly watching it very closely."
At Cargill Inc., the global agribusiness giant headquartered in Minnetonka, spokesman Mark Klein and other officials in the company's beef business were gauging the Japanese market and waiting to see what will happen on the futures market in Chicago today.
Before the ban on Canadian beef, Canada exported 70 percent of its beef to the United States and also exported to more than 30 other nations.
After its case was discovered, Canada's cattle markets slowed to a trickle, beef cattle fattened and lost value, and ranchers lost millions of dollars collectively. Yet Canadian consumption of beef remained relatively strong.
The United States consumes most of its domestic beef supply, exporting only about 10 percent of its supply, said Ron Eustice, executive director of the Minnesota Beef Council.
Prices tumble
On Tuesday, companies that rely on beef sales saw their stock prices fall in after-hours trading. Shares of CKE Restaurants, which owns the Timber Lodge Steakhouse, Hardee's and Carl's Jr. chains, fell as much as 7.1 percent, while McDonald's dropped 3.7 percent and Wendy's fell 2.3 percent.
On the other hand, shares of Australian Agricultural Co. rose as much as 6.4 percent as investors bet that demand for Aussie beef will increase. Australia is the world's largest beef exporter.
After the news May 20 that BSE had been found in Canada, U.S. beef prices tumbled about 5 percent. But they quickly rebounded, rallying nearly 50 percent to the highest levels since futures trading began in 1986...
*
*
Two stories from tomorrow's New York Times
Inspections for Mad Cow Lag Those Done Abroad
In discussing the case of mad cow disease apparently found in Washington State, Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman said yesterday that her department had tested 20,526 cattle for mad cow disease last year. But that is only a small percentage of the 35 million commercially slaughtered each year.
Because no domestic cases of mad cow disease have been found before, the United States has never put in place the kind of stringent testing done in Japan and some European countries, where every animal is supposed to be tested before humans can eat it.
Inspectors are supposed to view cattle outside slaughterhouses and weed out any having trouble walking. Those with signs of brain disease are to be ruled unfit for human consumption and sent to a rendering plant.
That appears to have happened with the Washington cow. Yesterday, Elsa Murano, under secretary of agriculture for food safety, said its brain and spinal column had been sent to such a plant, to be turned into protein feed, oils and other products. It is the brain and spinal cord that are the most likely to be infected with prions, the misfolded proteins that can lead to a mad-cow-like disease in humans.
This does not guarantee that infected matter will never make its way into the human food supply, critics noted yesterday.
Under Food and Drug Administration regulations issued in 1997, it is illegal to feed protein made from cows, sheep, deer and other so-called ruminants to other ruminants. But it is still legal to feed the rendered protein to pigs, chickens and other animals. Those animals in turn can be rendered and fed to cows or sheep. Also, beef blood and beef fat can be fed to calves.
"You can go into any feed store and buy Calf Starter or calf milk substitute," said John Stauber, co-author of "Mad Cow U.S.A." a 1997 book that warned that the disease could reach this country. "We're weaning calves on cattle blood proteins, even though we know blood plasma can carry the disease."
Also, said Sheldon Rampton, Mr. Stauber's co-author, questions have been raised about how effective the F.D.A. bans on feeding across species are.
If an animal becomes infected, the incubation period of the disease is between three and eight years, so the detection of one animal with the disease suggests that others may have been infected by the same source but have not yet been found.
Mr. Stauber said an F.D.A. memo written in 1997 predicted that if a single case of encephalopathy was found in the United States and a total ban on all feeding of animal protein to animals immediately enacted, it was still possible that as many as 299,000 infected cows would be found over the next 11 years.
In the past, the hooves and horns were used for gelatins and bone and blood meal as fertilizer and the fat became soap. But with the invention of chemical soaps and fertilizers in the 1960's, other uses had to be found for the waste, and the animal protein market developed as a cheap way to bulk up animals.
Danger to the Public Is Low, Experts Say
ven if beef from one infected cow got into the food supply, the chances that any consumer would develop mad cow disease are extremely low, experts on the disease say.
"One can derive a fair bit of comfort from statistics and epidemiology," said Dr. Fred Cohen, a professor of pharmacology at the University of California at San Francisco who is an expert on mad cow disease. "Put the question into context. When there were 60,000 to 80,000 infected cows in the U.K., approximately 150 people out of 60 million developed the disease." Here in the United States, Dr. Cohen said, "one cow is not likely to translate into any cases."
The primary safety concern is to avoid eating any nervous system tissue from an infected animal.
The Department of Agriculture says that whole cuts of beef — steaks, chops roast — are generally safe to eat because mad cow disease is not known to affect the muscle meat. The disease occurs in the central nervous system of the animal.
Critics of the Agriculture Department, who say the agency has resisted taking the steps needed to keep mad cow disease out of the food supply agree that muscle meat is safe but offer more specific steps the public can take to protect itself.
Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said a consumer should:
• Avoid ground beef unless they grind it themselves from a whole piece of muscle meat.
• Avoid brains, beef cheeks, neck bones.
• Avoid any meat that comes from the head and any meat that is taken from close to spinal column or containing bone that is part of the spinal cord, like T-bone, which was banned in some European countries during the outbreak in Britain.
• Avoid pizza toppings, taco fillings, hot dogs, salami, bologna and other products that contain not only ground beef but beef from machinery that squeezes out bits of meat that cling to the spinal column and other bones.
In a survey conducted in 2002 by the Agriculture Department, products for 34 processing plants that use such machinery, known as an advanced meat recovery system, were tested and 35 percent of them tested positive for central nervous system tissue.
Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is caused by a protein, called a prion, that folds itself into an abnormal shape that has several lethal properties. When a misfolded prion comes into contact with a healthy prion, it can cause the healthy proteins to misfold as well, starting a deadly chain reaction.
The abnormal prions form clumps that kill brain cells, leaving holes. Brain and nervous tissue are destroyed, resulting in death.
Then, if a healthy human or animal eats meat or processed foods contaminated with misfolded proteins, the disease can take hold. The dose needed to cause an infection, however, is not known.
Animals can contract B.S.E. in two ways. Most commonly, they get it from eating feed that has been contaminated by infectious prions. They can also develop the disease spontaneously when a normal prion mutates and starts the chain reaction, a process that leads to spontaneous infection in an estimated one in a million cows, deer and other mammals.
Infectious prions enter the body through the gut and are passed to the brain through lymph and other immune cells. They are found mostly in the brain but can exist for quite some time in peripheral tissue like tonsils, appendixes and lymph nodes in muscle. Misfolded prions have also been identified in white blood cells, a fact that led blood banks to ban blood donations by people who lived in Britain at the height of the epidemic.
Prion diseases go by many names. The sporadic form of the disease in humans is called Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease or C.J.D. When people contract it from eating infected beef, the disease is called variant C.J.D. In deer and elk it is chronic wasting disease.
*
Two stories from tomorrow's New York Times
Inspections for Mad Cow Lag Those Done Abroad
In discussing the case of mad cow disease apparently found in Washington State, Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman said yesterday that her department had tested 20,526 cattle for mad cow disease last year. But that is only a small percentage of the 35 million commercially slaughtered each year.
Because no domestic cases of mad cow disease have been found before, the United States has never put in place the kind of stringent testing done in Japan and some European countries, where every animal is supposed to be tested before humans can eat it.
Inspectors are supposed to view cattle outside slaughterhouses and weed out any having trouble walking. Those with signs of brain disease are to be ruled unfit for human consumption and sent to a rendering plant.
That appears to have happened with the Washington cow. Yesterday, Elsa Murano, under secretary of agriculture for food safety, said its brain and spinal column had been sent to such a plant, to be turned into protein feed, oils and other products. It is the brain and spinal cord that are the most likely to be infected with prions, the misfolded proteins that can lead to a mad-cow-like disease in humans.
This does not guarantee that infected matter will never make its way into the human food supply, critics noted yesterday.
Under Food and Drug Administration regulations issued in 1997, it is illegal to feed protein made from cows, sheep, deer and other so-called ruminants to other ruminants. But it is still legal to feed the rendered protein to pigs, chickens and other animals. Those animals in turn can be rendered and fed to cows or sheep. Also, beef blood and beef fat can be fed to calves.
"You can go into any feed store and buy Calf Starter or calf milk substitute," said John Stauber, co-author of "Mad Cow U.S.A." a 1997 book that warned that the disease could reach this country. "We're weaning calves on cattle blood proteins, even though we know blood plasma can carry the disease."
Also, said Sheldon Rampton, Mr. Stauber's co-author, questions have been raised about how effective the F.D.A. bans on feeding across species are.
If an animal becomes infected, the incubation period of the disease is between three and eight years, so the detection of one animal with the disease suggests that others may have been infected by the same source but have not yet been found.
Mr. Stauber said an F.D.A. memo written in 1997 predicted that if a single case of encephalopathy was found in the United States and a total ban on all feeding of animal protein to animals immediately enacted, it was still possible that as many as 299,000 infected cows would be found over the next 11 years.
In the past, the hooves and horns were used for gelatins and bone and blood meal as fertilizer and the fat became soap. But with the invention of chemical soaps and fertilizers in the 1960's, other uses had to be found for the waste, and the animal protein market developed as a cheap way to bulk up animals.
Danger to the Public Is Low, Experts Say
ven if beef from one infected cow got into the food supply, the chances that any consumer would develop mad cow disease are extremely low, experts on the disease say.
"One can derive a fair bit of comfort from statistics and epidemiology," said Dr. Fred Cohen, a professor of pharmacology at the University of California at San Francisco who is an expert on mad cow disease. "Put the question into context. When there were 60,000 to 80,000 infected cows in the U.K., approximately 150 people out of 60 million developed the disease." Here in the United States, Dr. Cohen said, "one cow is not likely to translate into any cases."
The primary safety concern is to avoid eating any nervous system tissue from an infected animal.
The Department of Agriculture says that whole cuts of beef — steaks, chops roast — are generally safe to eat because mad cow disease is not known to affect the muscle meat. The disease occurs in the central nervous system of the animal.
Critics of the Agriculture Department, who say the agency has resisted taking the steps needed to keep mad cow disease out of the food supply agree that muscle meat is safe but offer more specific steps the public can take to protect itself.
Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said a consumer should:
• Avoid ground beef unless they grind it themselves from a whole piece of muscle meat.
• Avoid brains, beef cheeks, neck bones.
• Avoid any meat that comes from the head and any meat that is taken from close to spinal column or containing bone that is part of the spinal cord, like T-bone, which was banned in some European countries during the outbreak in Britain.
• Avoid pizza toppings, taco fillings, hot dogs, salami, bologna and other products that contain not only ground beef but beef from machinery that squeezes out bits of meat that cling to the spinal column and other bones.
In a survey conducted in 2002 by the Agriculture Department, products for 34 processing plants that use such machinery, known as an advanced meat recovery system, were tested and 35 percent of them tested positive for central nervous system tissue.
Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is caused by a protein, called a prion, that folds itself into an abnormal shape that has several lethal properties. When a misfolded prion comes into contact with a healthy prion, it can cause the healthy proteins to misfold as well, starting a deadly chain reaction.
The abnormal prions form clumps that kill brain cells, leaving holes. Brain and nervous tissue are destroyed, resulting in death.
Then, if a healthy human or animal eats meat or processed foods contaminated with misfolded proteins, the disease can take hold. The dose needed to cause an infection, however, is not known.
Animals can contract B.S.E. in two ways. Most commonly, they get it from eating feed that has been contaminated by infectious prions. They can also develop the disease spontaneously when a normal prion mutates and starts the chain reaction, a process that leads to spontaneous infection in an estimated one in a million cows, deer and other mammals.
Infectious prions enter the body through the gut and are passed to the brain through lymph and other immune cells. They are found mostly in the brain but can exist for quite some time in peripheral tissue like tonsils, appendixes and lymph nodes in muscle. Misfolded prions have also been identified in white blood cells, a fact that led blood banks to ban blood donations by people who lived in Britain at the height of the epidemic.
Prion diseases go by many names. The sporadic form of the disease in humans is called Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease or C.J.D. When people contract it from eating infected beef, the disease is called variant C.J.D. In deer and elk it is chronic wasting disease.
U.S. Expert Thought Mad Cow Was Unlikely in U.S
America's foremost mad cow expert George Gray thought it unlikely that bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE (news - web sites)) would find its way into the United States until Tuesday's news of the first reported case.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said Tuesday a single sick dairy cow in Washington state had tested positive for the brain-wasting disease found mainly in Europe.
"I thought it was unlikely but it's not totally surprising," said Gray, a Harvard professor who spent three years studying the disease and its origins for the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis.
In the first major risk assessment of what would happen if mad cow was found in the United States, Gray and a team of academics found in 2001 that chances were the disease would not become a serious threat to herds or to the American food supply chain.
Asked how he thought the disease had arisen in the United States, a perplexed Gray told Reuters, "It proves only one thing ... that somehow it got here."
He downplayed the chances of mad cow disease becoming a wider problem. "I really think that significant spread in this country is highly unlikely," he said.
"We are never going to have the UK's 1,000-a-week cases. We're never going to get to that situation I can say pretty confidently," he added.
Gray said the U.S. government safeguards were adequate enough to deal with the disease, which has never been found in the country before. In May, Canadian officials found a lone case of mad cow disease in an Alberta animal and were never able to pinpoint the cause.
The disease was relatively unknown in the United States until around 1996 when Britain acknowledged that people had died by eating mad-cow-infected meat.
"This is a time to learn a little more and not to panic," Gray cautioned. "Steps taken over the last 15 years means that this disease is unlikely to spread significantly in the U.S," he added.
"I'd say stay calm and let's see what we can learn about this and then figure out what the next steps are. To me there are still things that have to be learned," he said.
America's foremost mad cow expert George Gray thought it unlikely that bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE (news - web sites)) would find its way into the United States until Tuesday's news of the first reported case.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said Tuesday a single sick dairy cow in Washington state had tested positive for the brain-wasting disease found mainly in Europe.
"I thought it was unlikely but it's not totally surprising," said Gray, a Harvard professor who spent three years studying the disease and its origins for the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis.
In the first major risk assessment of what would happen if mad cow was found in the United States, Gray and a team of academics found in 2001 that chances were the disease would not become a serious threat to herds or to the American food supply chain.
Asked how he thought the disease had arisen in the United States, a perplexed Gray told Reuters, "It proves only one thing ... that somehow it got here."
He downplayed the chances of mad cow disease becoming a wider problem. "I really think that significant spread in this country is highly unlikely," he said.
"We are never going to have the UK's 1,000-a-week cases. We're never going to get to that situation I can say pretty confidently," he added.
Gray said the U.S. government safeguards were adequate enough to deal with the disease, which has never been found in the country before. In May, Canadian officials found a lone case of mad cow disease in an Alberta animal and were never able to pinpoint the cause.
The disease was relatively unknown in the United States until around 1996 when Britain acknowledged that people had died by eating mad-cow-infected meat.
"This is a time to learn a little more and not to panic," Gray cautioned. "Steps taken over the last 15 years means that this disease is unlikely to spread significantly in the U.S," he added.
"I'd say stay calm and let's see what we can learn about this and then figure out what the next steps are. To me there are still things that have to be learned," he said.
U.S. Mad Cow Case Rattles Asian Markets
The first U.S. case of mad cow disease rattled Asian investors Wednesday, while the dollar hovered near recent lows in thin holiday trade, failing to take advantage of broadly upbeat U.S. economic data.
Japan and South Korea halted imports of U.S. beef after officials said mad cow disease, which devastated the British agriculture industry in the 1990s, had been found in a cow in Washington state.
The news sent shares of McDonald's Corp (MCD) down 3.7 percent in after-hours trade and analysts expected beef and grain prices to fall sharply when trade resumed Wednesday on fears about the impact on America's $27 billion cattle industry. Shares in Japan edged down 0.03 percent to 10,369.85 by the midday break as the mad cow scare hurt McDonald's Holdings Co. Ltd. and Prima Meat Packers Ltd. Japan is the largest importer of U.S. beef.
``The mad cow news is hitting some individual shares, but any larger impact is still unclear,'' said Hiroaki Kuramochi, head of global equities at Credit Lyonnais.
Japan's McDonald's Holdings fell more than three percent, while Prima dropped over four percent. The disease has killed more than 100 people in Britain and Europe, while there have been no confirmed cases in Japan...
The first U.S. case of mad cow disease rattled Asian investors Wednesday, while the dollar hovered near recent lows in thin holiday trade, failing to take advantage of broadly upbeat U.S. economic data.
Japan and South Korea halted imports of U.S. beef after officials said mad cow disease, which devastated the British agriculture industry in the 1990s, had been found in a cow in Washington state.
The news sent shares of McDonald's Corp (MCD) down 3.7 percent in after-hours trade and analysts expected beef and grain prices to fall sharply when trade resumed Wednesday on fears about the impact on America's $27 billion cattle industry. Shares in Japan edged down 0.03 percent to 10,369.85 by the midday break as the mad cow scare hurt McDonald's Holdings Co. Ltd. and Prima Meat Packers Ltd. Japan is the largest importer of U.S. beef.
``The mad cow news is hitting some individual shares, but any larger impact is still unclear,'' said Hiroaki Kuramochi, head of global equities at Credit Lyonnais.
Japan's McDonald's Holdings fell more than three percent, while Prima dropped over four percent. The disease has killed more than 100 people in Britain and Europe, while there have been no confirmed cases in Japan...
Colorado imposes cattle ban
The Colorado Department of Agriculture has imposed a ban against the importation of cattle from Washington state after a case of mad cow disease was discovered there.
The ban involves all cattle from Washington older than 30 months and is effective immediately.
Mad cow disease strikes cattle older than 30 months. The case from Washington is the first time the disease has been discovered in the United States.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture has imposed a ban against the importation of cattle from Washington state after a case of mad cow disease was discovered there.
The ban involves all cattle from Washington older than 30 months and is effective immediately.
Mad cow disease strikes cattle older than 30 months. The case from Washington is the first time the disease has been discovered in the United States.
Australian exporters watch US mad cow case
The Austrailan beef industry says it expects to feel the shockwaves from the discovery of a case of mad cow disease in the United States.
The US Government has confirmed the country has its first case of mad cow disease, in the west coast state of Washington.
Cattle Council of Australia president Keith Adams says the case is bad news for Australian exporters sending product into the lucrative market.
He says he is not even thinking about the possibility of any positives coming from potential worldwide bans on US beef exports.
"This is bad news for everbody - there's no upside to this," he said.
"USA is one of our major markets and if this is true, if this is actually a confirmed case of BSE [bovine spongiform encephalopathy], then there will in a short period of time be a hell of a glut of beef in the US owing to the fact that they won't be able to export in the immediate future, so they'll have a mountain of beef."
But one of the biggest independent exporters of Australian beef, Sanger Australia Limited, says the news is not all doom and gloom.
The company's Richard Raines says the case shows that the testing regime for mad cow disease is working worldwide, which should comfort consumers.
He says after the detection of mad cow in the US it is almost certain that Japan and Korea will ban any beef imports from the US, opening the door for increased Australian sales.
"Australia is still at this stage in a very enviable position of being on the lowest risk category," he said.
"We've had no incidents here and touch wood, keep the fingers crossed, we won't.
"But if America is excluded from Asia, which will be the main market for their exports, if we were able to replace some of those exports that could be a windfall for Australia."
A spokesman for Trade Minister Mark Vaile says it is too early to comment on what the trade implications for Australia might be.
The Austrailan beef industry says it expects to feel the shockwaves from the discovery of a case of mad cow disease in the United States.
The US Government has confirmed the country has its first case of mad cow disease, in the west coast state of Washington.
Cattle Council of Australia president Keith Adams says the case is bad news for Australian exporters sending product into the lucrative market.
He says he is not even thinking about the possibility of any positives coming from potential worldwide bans on US beef exports.
"This is bad news for everbody - there's no upside to this," he said.
"USA is one of our major markets and if this is true, if this is actually a confirmed case of BSE [bovine spongiform encephalopathy], then there will in a short period of time be a hell of a glut of beef in the US owing to the fact that they won't be able to export in the immediate future, so they'll have a mountain of beef."
But one of the biggest independent exporters of Australian beef, Sanger Australia Limited, says the news is not all doom and gloom.
The company's Richard Raines says the case shows that the testing regime for mad cow disease is working worldwide, which should comfort consumers.
He says after the detection of mad cow in the US it is almost certain that Japan and Korea will ban any beef imports from the US, opening the door for increased Australian sales.
"Australia is still at this stage in a very enviable position of being on the lowest risk category," he said.
"We've had no incidents here and touch wood, keep the fingers crossed, we won't.
"But if America is excluded from Asia, which will be the main market for their exports, if we were able to replace some of those exports that could be a windfall for Australia."
A spokesman for Trade Minister Mark Vaile says it is too early to comment on what the trade implications for Australia might be.
*
*
And now the animal rights folks take their shot at the cattle industry.
Mad Cow Case Comes a Week After Ruling
The United States' first major mad cow scare comes just a week after a court decision reviving a lawsuit against the government's policy on so-called "downer" animals so sick or injured they must be dragged to market.
The suit, pushed by members of the New York-based animal rights group Farm Sanctuary, claims the Department of Agriculture is not doing enough to protect consumers from mad cow disease in the meat of downed animals.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals resurrected the 1998 lawsuit last week, finding a lower judge had wrongly dismissed the case. In dismissing the case, the judge found the possibility of infection from mad cow disease in America too remote to justify the suit.
The appeals panel disagreed, ruling 2-1 that the man who brought the case, Michael Baur, had "successfully alleged a credible threat of harm from downed cattle."
Most of the estimated 130,000 downed animals brought to slaughterhouses every year are milk cows who are no longer productive.
USDA officials declined to comment on the resurrection of the lawsuit last week but defended their screening procedures. Officials said every immobile animal goes through a pre-death and post-death inspection and any animal exhibiting possible symptoms of neurological disease is checked for mad cow disease.
Department officials have been reluctant to support an across-the-board ban on downer animals, which often end up in pet food, in the human food supply. They've warned that a ban would lead farmers to bury the sick and injured animals on the farm instead of sending them to be rendered, raising the risk that diseases would spread to other livestock and wildlife.
Rendering, a process that basically cooks meat that goes into food for pets and livestock, kills most disease.
Farm Sanctuary president Gene Baustin argued the USDA's insufficient efforts have risked both human and animal health, and suggested consumers might be "eating the evidence" of a serious health risk.
Opponents of the use of downed animals tried to get a ban on the practice through Congress earlier this year. The measure passed in the Senate but failed in the House.
The sponsor of the House measure, Rep. Gary Ackerman of New York, said Tuesday that both the industry and the federal government had failed to heed warnings. Ackerman argued the fallout from the single case could have a crippling effect on the meat industry.
Wayne Pacelle, a lobbyist for the Humane Society of the United States, called on the government to impose an immediate ban on "the slaughter of any downed animals for human consumption."
*
And now the animal rights folks take their shot at the cattle industry.
Mad Cow Case Comes a Week After Ruling
The United States' first major mad cow scare comes just a week after a court decision reviving a lawsuit against the government's policy on so-called "downer" animals so sick or injured they must be dragged to market.
The suit, pushed by members of the New York-based animal rights group Farm Sanctuary, claims the Department of Agriculture is not doing enough to protect consumers from mad cow disease in the meat of downed animals.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals resurrected the 1998 lawsuit last week, finding a lower judge had wrongly dismissed the case. In dismissing the case, the judge found the possibility of infection from mad cow disease in America too remote to justify the suit.
The appeals panel disagreed, ruling 2-1 that the man who brought the case, Michael Baur, had "successfully alleged a credible threat of harm from downed cattle."
Most of the estimated 130,000 downed animals brought to slaughterhouses every year are milk cows who are no longer productive.
USDA officials declined to comment on the resurrection of the lawsuit last week but defended their screening procedures. Officials said every immobile animal goes through a pre-death and post-death inspection and any animal exhibiting possible symptoms of neurological disease is checked for mad cow disease.
Department officials have been reluctant to support an across-the-board ban on downer animals, which often end up in pet food, in the human food supply. They've warned that a ban would lead farmers to bury the sick and injured animals on the farm instead of sending them to be rendered, raising the risk that diseases would spread to other livestock and wildlife.
Rendering, a process that basically cooks meat that goes into food for pets and livestock, kills most disease.
Farm Sanctuary president Gene Baustin argued the USDA's insufficient efforts have risked both human and animal health, and suggested consumers might be "eating the evidence" of a serious health risk.
Opponents of the use of downed animals tried to get a ban on the practice through Congress earlier this year. The measure passed in the Senate but failed in the House.
The sponsor of the House measure, Rep. Gary Ackerman of New York, said Tuesday that both the industry and the federal government had failed to heed warnings. Ackerman argued the fallout from the single case could have a crippling effect on the meat industry.
Wayne Pacelle, a lobbyist for the Humane Society of the United States, called on the government to impose an immediate ban on "the slaughter of any downed animals for human consumption."
Quarantine to figure in mad cow probe
WASHINGTON - The government is depending on a mix of quarantine and detective work to figure out how mad cow disease apparently infected a cow in Washington state.
The nation's mad cow emergency plan - never before used - is to cordon off any cattle that could have come into contact with the infection.
Keeping any possibly infected cow out of the food chain is crucial, as a human version of the disease that literally eats holes in the brain is believed spread by eating meat tainted with infected brain or nerve tissue. The human illness, with the unwieldy name new variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, has claimed 143 victims in Britain and 10 elsewhere, but none so far in the United States.
Already, the farm near Yakima, Wash., has been quarantined as the government awaits the last of three tests on the suspect cow's tissue to confirm the presence of BSE, bovine spongiform encephalopathy. That final test is performed in Britain, where BSE first erupted in cattle in 1986.
Once confirmed, all the animals in that herd probably will slaughtered so their brains, too, can be tested, said Food and Drug Administration Deputy Commissioner Lester Crawford, a veterinarian who oversees the agency's BSE work.
Key is tracing the source of the first infection to see how the U.S. firewall against this disease was breached.
Beef and cattle imported from countries known to have BSE has long been banned.
But the nation's main defense is a 1997 ban on giving cattle feed made from the protein or bone meal of sheep or other mammals - because that feed is thought to be the way mad cow disease originally spread.
So the first question is whether the cow was illegally imported or ate feed that illegally contained BSE-bearing protein.
Another possibility depends on the cow's age, which wasn't immediately known. If the cow was more than 6 years old, she could have received tainted feed before the FDA's ban began, Crawford noted. The disease's incubation period can be as long as eight years.
A second part of the probe is to trace every cow the ill one - and any others found to be ill - came into contact with, so they also can be quarantined and tested to see if the infection spread.
Canada has had two cases of BSE-infected cows, once in 1993 and once last spring, but never was able to pinpoint the source of infection, Crawford noted. "We would hope to be able to nail it down," he said.
Scientists have long warned it was only a matter of time before BSE reached U.S. cattle, because safeguards can't be foolproof.
Still, "we have in place a system in this country to dramatically reduce the risk of any infected bovine getting into the food system and being consumed," said Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota, who has advised the federal government on food-safety issues.
"One case does not make for a crisis," he stressed.
Extra layers of protection come at slaughterhouses, where inspectors prevent sick animals from being killed for human consumption.
In addition, the Agriculture Department had the brains of more than 20,000 cows tested for signs of BSE in the last year, triple the number from previous years.
Any non-ambulatory cow, like the Washington one, as well any cow with signs of neurological disease and all cows over 30 months old - because BSE is more common in old cows - are tested, said the National Cattlemen's Association.
Critics say there are loopholes. Europe tests far more cattle for BSE, for example. Also, BSE is caused by rogue proteins called prions that collect in the cow's brain, spinal cord and other nervous system tissue. Processors are supposed to remove the spinal cord to minimize health risks, although a 2002 report found not all processors completely follow that rule. The Agriculture Department last spring began more careful testing to ensure compliance.
"Virtually every aspect of our BSE prevention program will be reevaluated," said FDA's Crawford.
WASHINGTON - The government is depending on a mix of quarantine and detective work to figure out how mad cow disease apparently infected a cow in Washington state.
The nation's mad cow emergency plan - never before used - is to cordon off any cattle that could have come into contact with the infection.
Keeping any possibly infected cow out of the food chain is crucial, as a human version of the disease that literally eats holes in the brain is believed spread by eating meat tainted with infected brain or nerve tissue. The human illness, with the unwieldy name new variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, has claimed 143 victims in Britain and 10 elsewhere, but none so far in the United States.
Already, the farm near Yakima, Wash., has been quarantined as the government awaits the last of three tests on the suspect cow's tissue to confirm the presence of BSE, bovine spongiform encephalopathy. That final test is performed in Britain, where BSE first erupted in cattle in 1986.
Once confirmed, all the animals in that herd probably will slaughtered so their brains, too, can be tested, said Food and Drug Administration Deputy Commissioner Lester Crawford, a veterinarian who oversees the agency's BSE work.
Key is tracing the source of the first infection to see how the U.S. firewall against this disease was breached.
Beef and cattle imported from countries known to have BSE has long been banned.
But the nation's main defense is a 1997 ban on giving cattle feed made from the protein or bone meal of sheep or other mammals - because that feed is thought to be the way mad cow disease originally spread.
So the first question is whether the cow was illegally imported or ate feed that illegally contained BSE-bearing protein.
Another possibility depends on the cow's age, which wasn't immediately known. If the cow was more than 6 years old, she could have received tainted feed before the FDA's ban began, Crawford noted. The disease's incubation period can be as long as eight years.
A second part of the probe is to trace every cow the ill one - and any others found to be ill - came into contact with, so they also can be quarantined and tested to see if the infection spread.
Canada has had two cases of BSE-infected cows, once in 1993 and once last spring, but never was able to pinpoint the source of infection, Crawford noted. "We would hope to be able to nail it down," he said.
Scientists have long warned it was only a matter of time before BSE reached U.S. cattle, because safeguards can't be foolproof.
Still, "we have in place a system in this country to dramatically reduce the risk of any infected bovine getting into the food system and being consumed," said Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota, who has advised the federal government on food-safety issues.
"One case does not make for a crisis," he stressed.
Extra layers of protection come at slaughterhouses, where inspectors prevent sick animals from being killed for human consumption.
In addition, the Agriculture Department had the brains of more than 20,000 cows tested for signs of BSE in the last year, triple the number from previous years.
Any non-ambulatory cow, like the Washington one, as well any cow with signs of neurological disease and all cows over 30 months old - because BSE is more common in old cows - are tested, said the National Cattlemen's Association.
Critics say there are loopholes. Europe tests far more cattle for BSE, for example. Also, BSE is caused by rogue proteins called prions that collect in the cow's brain, spinal cord and other nervous system tissue. Processors are supposed to remove the spinal cord to minimize health risks, although a 2002 report found not all processors completely follow that rule. The Agriculture Department last spring began more careful testing to ensure compliance.
"Virtually every aspect of our BSE prevention program will be reevaluated," said FDA's Crawford.
Canada weighing its response to possible outbreak of mad cow in U.S.
OTTAWA (CP) - Federal Agriculture Minister Bob Speller huddled with officials Tuesday evening as Ottawa absorbed the news its largest trading partner may have been hit by a case of mad cow disease.
Speller, who couldn't be immediately reached for reaction, has been Canada's minister of agriculture for only 10 days. Still, U.S. authorities notified his office "with a head's up that this was happening" late Tuesday afternoon as U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman publicly announced that country's first-ever case of mad cow disease was suspected.
The case is thought to involve a single cow in Washington state.
A single case of mad cow in Alberta last May led to rapid border closures to Canadian beef exports, devastating the industry, particularly in Western Canadian provinces.
The crisis has abated since September, when the United States began accepting some boneless beef cuts. Since then, more than 60,000 tonnes of beef have moved into the United States and Mexico - all from animals under 30 months of age, which are believed at lower risk of contracting the brain-wasting disease.
Closing Canada's border to U.S. beef exports as well as live cattle, which at times graze in southern reaches of Prairie provinces, is one possibility federal officials were weighing Tuesday evening.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., Veneman hastened to assure American consumers that the meat they buy is safe.
"We remain confident in the safety of our food supply," said Veneman.
Consumers in both Canada and the U.S. should be reassured that the food inspection system is sound, said former federal agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief.
"It's not a situation as it was a few years ago over in the United Kingdom where there was an estimate of up to two million animals (with the disease) that had been in the system over a period of time," said Vanclief, who was federal minister during the height of Canada's mad cow crisis.
"Things have moved, the science has advanced since that time and people can be very, very comfortable that the system in both Canada and the United States can detect this type of situation and keep the product out of the food chain."
Veneman told a news conference a single Holstein cow that was either sick or injured - thus never destined for the U.S. food supply - tested presumptively positive for the brain-wasting illness.
OTTAWA (CP) - Federal Agriculture Minister Bob Speller huddled with officials Tuesday evening as Ottawa absorbed the news its largest trading partner may have been hit by a case of mad cow disease.
Speller, who couldn't be immediately reached for reaction, has been Canada's minister of agriculture for only 10 days. Still, U.S. authorities notified his office "with a head's up that this was happening" late Tuesday afternoon as U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman publicly announced that country's first-ever case of mad cow disease was suspected.
The case is thought to involve a single cow in Washington state.
A single case of mad cow in Alberta last May led to rapid border closures to Canadian beef exports, devastating the industry, particularly in Western Canadian provinces.
The crisis has abated since September, when the United States began accepting some boneless beef cuts. Since then, more than 60,000 tonnes of beef have moved into the United States and Mexico - all from animals under 30 months of age, which are believed at lower risk of contracting the brain-wasting disease.
Closing Canada's border to U.S. beef exports as well as live cattle, which at times graze in southern reaches of Prairie provinces, is one possibility federal officials were weighing Tuesday evening.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., Veneman hastened to assure American consumers that the meat they buy is safe.
"We remain confident in the safety of our food supply," said Veneman.
Consumers in both Canada and the U.S. should be reassured that the food inspection system is sound, said former federal agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief.
"It's not a situation as it was a few years ago over in the United Kingdom where there was an estimate of up to two million animals (with the disease) that had been in the system over a period of time," said Vanclief, who was federal minister during the height of Canada's mad cow crisis.
"Things have moved, the science has advanced since that time and people can be very, very comfortable that the system in both Canada and the United States can detect this type of situation and keep the product out of the food chain."
Veneman told a news conference a single Holstein cow that was either sick or injured - thus never destined for the U.S. food supply - tested presumptively positive for the brain-wasting illness.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)