June 4, 2004

US Group Concerned About False Positive BSE Results

The Organization for Competitive Markets Wednesday stressed its concern with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's intent to disclose initial positive bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, results as soon as any are found, rather than waiting to disclose proven positives.
 
In a release, OCM said this USDA practice would cause significant and irrevocable market harm each time a false positive test is announced.
 
On June 1, the USDA began its $70 million BSE testing program, targeted at testing 201,000 to 268,000 cattle during the next 12 to 18 months. The program is aimed at testing downer animals or animals over 30 months of age, which USDA protocols currently specify as the high-risk category.
 
The USDA will rely on rapid tests to provide preliminary results in a matter of hours. Initial positives will be confirmed at USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, through a far more precise immunochemistry technique requiring two weeks to confirm the preliminary diagnosis.
 
It is commonly understood that some initial positives will be false positives, though the percentage is not known, the OCM said.
 
However, USDA officials have indicated publicly that the agency will "disclose initial positives as soon as they are found."
 
"While we need to know of any confirmed BSE cases, the release of any false positive information by USDA would place undue stress on today's strong cattle markets," said Fred Stokes, OCM president, in the release.
 
"USDA rejected Creekstone Farms' request to blanket test for BSE based on concerns over the release of false positive information and the subsequent negative impact on markets. Now, USDA is saying that it intends to disclose initial results before they are confirmed through conclusive testing. This is a troubling departure from the agency's BSE Crisis Plan," said Stokes.
 
"USDA's policy development surrounding the December 2003 discovery of a BSE-infected Canadian Holstein dairy cow in Washington State has emerged with little or no public review," said Stokes in the release. "There have been a string of problematic shortfalls in USDA's BSE policy and critical lapses in its implementation of rules and regulations. The agency's intention to prematurely release initial positive BSE test results heightens concerns that USDA is quite simply out of control," he said.