May 24, 2004

USDA Wants To Train Veterinarians On Identifying BSE Symptoms

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has set up a series of training seminars to improve the ability of government veterinarians to spot possible symptoms of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, and collect samples for the disease.
 
A USDA official, speaking on terms of anonymity, said the seminars were, in part, planned as a response to controversy over USDA's admission that it failed in Texas to test a condemned cow showing symptoms of a central nervous system disorder.
 
The first of these seminars is scheduled to be held May 26 with several more to follow in June, July and August.
 
"It's going to be reinforced through training that we want to look at animals with central nervous system disorders," the USDA official said. "We want to sample those animals."
 
Earlier this month USDA Secretary Ann Veneman said improvements at the department need to be made in the BSE surveillance program.
 
"We have quickly admitted that (the cow) should have been tested ... We've dealt with it swiftly and we're making adjustments in our systems accordingly," she said.
 
Barbara Masters, acting administrator of USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, said Friday she has now empowered FSIS veterinarians at slaughtered facilities to demand BSE tests be performed on cattle without first getting approval to ensure there is "no ambiguity" about whether tests are needed.
 
USDA is now preparing to implement an expanded testing program on June 1 to get a "snapshot" of BSE prevalence in the U.S.
 
Peter Fernandez, an associate administrator for USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said on May 7 the department now believes it will be able to test 268,000 animals for BSE.
 

Source: USDA