July 2, 2004

US Announcing Inconclusive BSE Tests Harmful

A new U.S. Department of Agriculture policy of announcing inconclusive mad cow disease tests is potentially harmful to the nation's cattle industry, Gov. Mike Johanns says.
 
"These tests are sensitive, and it is very possible that you put the inconclusive results out and say it could be BSE and then find out that it's not," Johanns said. "In the meantime, you have had a tremendous impact on the market just like we have been seeing."
 
The USDA reported Wednesday that the inconclusive screening test sample reported June 25 turned up negative for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, upon confirmatory testing.
 
According to University of Nebraska beef specialists, the public should be prepared for more inconclusive BSE reports because of expanded testing the USDA launched June 1.
 
David Smith and David Steffen, veterinary scientists in the university's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, said the larger sampling of animals will result in more inconclusive findings from initial rapid screening.
 
As of Tuesday, 8,585 cattle had been screened since June 1.
 
"Any time you expand testing, you are bound to have more tests that are inconclusive," Smith said.
 
Cattle futures prices fell sharply Monday in response to Friday's announcement, rebounded Tuesday but fell again Wednesday after a second inconclusive BSE test was announced.
 
Results are expected soon from further testing in that second case.
 
Johanns said he and the Nebraska Department of Agriculture have asked the USDA to re-examine its policy of announcing inconclusive BSE tests.
 
"As long as the USDA sticks with publishing inconclusive results, we are kind of stuck with this," he said.
 
Johanns talked with officials in China and Hong Kong about reopening their borders to U.S. beef products. China is among some 50 countries that banned U.S. beef after a dairy cow in Washington state tested positive for BSE last December.
 
The announcements of inconclusive BSE results have had a slight impact on domestic cattle markets.
 
Fed cattle prices dropped from $90 to $75 per hundredweight shortly after the confirmed case of BSE in late December, said Darrell Mark, a university livestock marketing specialist.
 
Since then, prices have risen steadily and are up 20% from early-year lows.
 
But following Tuesday night's announcement, cattle future markets again dipped $1.50 to $2 on Wednesday, Mark said.