July 21, 2006

 

USDA announces revised mad cow surveillance programme

 

 

US Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns announced Thursday (July 20) that the USDA would soon begin a revised surveillance programme for mad cow disease.

 

It is time that surveillance efforts reflect the low level of mad cow cases in the US, Johanns announced.

 

The surveillance programme would maintain the country's ability to detect mad cow disease while providing assurance that its safeguards could prevent further cases, he said.

 

759,000 animals have been tested since 2004. Two of the three cases of mad cow disease identified in the US resulted from these tests.

 

The new surveillance programme would sample approximately 40,000 animals each year.

 

This meant cutting down the number of tests from 1,000 to 110 a day.

 

The USDA would continue to collect samples from various sites and from the cattle populations where the disease is most likely to be detected, a statement said.

 

The new programme, expected to begin in late August, is designed to comply with the science-based international guidelines from the World Animal Health organization (OIE).

 

In April, USDA released an analysis of 7 years of surveillance data which concluded that the prevalence of mad cow disease in the US is less than 1 for every million adult cattle.

 

However, the analysis said that the number of cases is more likely to be between 4 and 7 infected animals out of 42 million adult cattle.

 

Besides the surveillance programme, consumers are protected by the removal of tissues that may transmit the mad cow disease to humans.

 

The 1997 law which banned animal parts to be used in ruminant feed is also another safeguard. Mad cow cases are expected to decline the longer the ban has been in place.

 

Japan's farm minister has responded that the cutback in the US government's testing programme for mad cow disease would not be a significant factor in the country's decision on whether to resume US beef imports.

 

The ministry will make its decision based on a risk assessment, not out of political or diplomatic concerns, a ministry spokesman said.

 

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said he hopes the reduction would not affect the effort to reopen trade. 

 

Japan had earlier said it preferred a higher level of testing.