March 16, 2004

 

 

USDA To Increase Mad Cow Monitoring

 

The United States Department of Agriculture has announced that it will increase surveillance of cattle for mad cow disease. As part of the effort, they plan to start random testing of seemingly normal cattle older than 30 months of age at slaughter.

The $70 million in funding to pay for the increased testing will will be transfered from the Commodity Credit Corporation, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman told about 100 reporters on a telephone press conference this afternoon.

In the wake of finding the first US case of BSE in December 2003, initial plans were to test 40,000 cattle for BSE this year. Based on the recommendations of an international advisory committee released in February, however, USDA now plans to test a significantly larger number of at risk cattle over the next 12 to 18 months. It is too soon to set an exact number of animals that will be tested but the goal seems to be to test at least 200,000 animals.

USDA estimates 446,000 cattle each year in the US fall into the category of being at the highest risk for developing the disease. The recommendations of the international committee would be to test all of them, according to Ron Dehaven, who is the deputy administrator of veterinary services for USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

USDA has determined, however, that testing 268,000 of those animals would allow them to detect to a 99% certainty if one case were to occur in 10 million cattle. If they test 201,000 they would be able to detect one case in 10 million to a 95% certainty.

Dehaven stressed repeatedly that USDA doesn't want to identify a specific target number of animals at this early stage of the game. They hope to test as many as possible of the high risk group.

"We're treading new ground, here" he said. They may extend out the sample period beyond 18 months to increase the statistical validity of their data but they'll look at that only if it becomes necessary. USDA will test, "as many as we can possibly get," he said.

Samples will be taken from the highest risk populations in a geographically diverse area in numbers proportionate to the number of older animals in each state.

Dehaven says the increased surveillance efforts will immediately begin to ramp up and will reach full capacity within two to three months time. Samples will be taken in many locations including on farms, in slaughter facilities, at public health labs, at vet clinics, and at sale barns and livestock auctions.

The goal of randomly testing seemingly healthy older animals is twofold. First, BSE is principally a disease of older cattle and such tests could help them locate indigenous cases, and second it will help them ensure testing of any animals living before a feed ban was imposed in August of 1997. USDA aims to collect 20,000 such samples.

A network of state and university labs will conduct rapid tests using any of the USDA approved rapid testing technology. Positives, false or otherwise, will be sent to the Veterinary Services Testing lab in Ames, Iowa for confirmation.

Dehaven stressed that this program is a one time effort. After the stepped-up surveillance period is over they will evaluate the information gathered and make additional plans at that time.

He also pointed out that USDA thinks it will find the prevalence of this disease is very low. However, there is a chance they could find more positive cattle. "But keep it in perspective," he said. USDA says it anticipates some positive results at the initial screening level. "Keep in mind there may be false positives," he said.

He added, however, that he is confident USDA measures provide the necessary safeguards to ensure meat is safe.

Dehaven also stressed that this testing reflects the best science for surveillance purposes, and is not intended for marketing or food safety purposes.

Learn more about the plan on the USDA web site at www.usda.gov, i n cluding a chart of who will collect samples. Many of the samples will be collected by USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) or APHIS employees, Dehaven said.

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), ranking Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, responded favorably to the news this afternoon, but said some questions remain about funding and implementing the program.

"I am pleased to see USDA taking the steps I and a number of my colleagues have urged in response to the case of BSE in this country. Increasing the number of animals tested will help establish a true sense of the extent to which BSE may be in our cattle," he said.

"Still some questions remain including the cost of the program and how it will be administered. The key to the program will be ensuring that they actually get the number of samples they need, including animals that die or are euthanized on farms.

"It is important that USDA keep an open dialogue with Congress and the American people to ensure everything is being done to protect the health of consumers as well as our cattle herds, and to maintain and build confidence among consumers and buyers here and in other countries," Harkin said.