July 25, 2006

New US mad cow programme to concentrate on cattle with symptoms

The revamped US mad cow surveillance programme, which has reduced the number of cattle checked from 1000 cattle to 110 cattle a week, would concentrate on cattle showing symptoms of the disease, said Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns.

The programme would concentrate on cattle that are unable to stand or walk, with only a few cattle found dead being tested.

This is a radical change from the previous surveillance programme, where 85 percent of the cattle tested had been found dead on the farm, while only 11 percent of those tested were symptomatic or unable to walk.

Various consumer groups had previously leveled criticism at the USDA for concentrating heavily on dead animals rather than those showing symptoms.

Now, however, criticism is directed towards the vastly reduced number of cattle tested. Consumer groups have said they would petition Congress to restore previous testing levels.

Out of the nearly 700,000 US cattle tested for the disease since 2004, two were detected with the disease. The USDA has said that the occurrence of mad cow disease is a million to one, with the probability decreasing with each passing year after the 1997 ban on animal parts in feed.