July 1, 2004

USDA To Hold Briefing On Mad-Cow Tests Wednesday

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will be holding a briefing for media sometime later Wednesday in response to the two "inconclusive" test results for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, that it reported June 25 and June 29.
 
USDA spokeswoman Julie Quick said Wednesday the primary focus of the briefing is scheduled to be a technical overview of USDA's testing efforts so far, in its massive new effort over 12 to 18 months to get a "snapshot" of BSE prevalence by testing as many as 268,000 cattle in the U.S. That effort began June 1.
 
However, Quick also said the confirmatory result of the first "inconclusive," announced June 25, may be divulged at the briefing if the USDA has received it from the department's National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.
 
That confirmatory result has, as of 0930 ET (1330 GMT), not been sent from the Ames laboratory to USDA administration officials, Quick said, but she added that may change when the briefing is held later Wednesday.
 
USDA officials have said it takes four to seven days for the National Veterinary Services Laboratory to determine whether or not a rapid screening "inconclusive" result is a positive or a negative.
 
John Clifford, USDA's chief veterinarian, warned recently that initial screening tests "are highly sensitive" and stressed to reporters that it is possible they will produce false-positives.
 
Speaking about the first "inconclusive" announced June 25, Clifford said, "This may well be negative."
 
Clifford said recently: "If you have a reaction from a rapid screening test, that is what we're classifying as an inconclusive sample. It doesn't mean the sample is positive for BSE. It doesn't mean it's negative for BSE."