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Sometimes
I have to choose between two or three topics that are timely and
beneficial for this column. This month the subject of BSE being found in
the State of Alabama demands to be the center of attention.
Since
beginning our partnership with our USDA counterparts in the BSE
Surveillance Program in late 2003, and then the Enhanced BSE
Surveillance Program that began in June of 2004, one of the goals has
been to find the disease, if existed and find the prevalence, or rate at
which the disease occurs.
Since
last June, when a cow in Texas became the first United States born cow
to be diagnosed as BSE positive, we have known that there could be an
occasional positive cow found, however rare that might be. What we did
not know is that the second cow would be found in Alabama. The fact that
this cow was sampled with the result of a positive diagnosis shows that
the BSE Surveillance Program is working.
On
Saturday, March 11, I was notified by the USDA that a cow from Alabama
had tested inconclusive on the rapid screening test at a USDA contract
laboratory in Athens, Georgia. The sample was then sent to the National
Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, for a confirmatory test
called the Western Blot test. The results were announced to us and the
rest of the world on Monday, March 13.
The
animal had been seen by a local veterinarian because she had become
nonambulatory (unable to move about). She was apparently ten years or
older. She was treated and did not respond, so she was later humanely
euthanized and sampled. The animal was then buried on the farm and did
not enter the human or animal food chain. Early reports indicate that
the animal had been on the farm where she died for less than a year. At
the time of this writing, there is an on-going investigation to locate
off-spring and first co-horts.
Since
June of 2004, there have been nearly 2700 samples collected from cows
that have died on farms in Alabama which are target animals for BSE.
That number of samples from Alabama have gone with those from all the
other states to make up the over 640,000 samples collected in the United
States in less than 2 years.
This
program has been necessary to substantiate that we are indeed a low risk
country for BSE. That fact is important in our exporting of beef to
other countries. We are very appreciative of the fact that Alabama
cattle producers have participated in the surveillance program on a
voluntary basis. Again, I will emphasize that our trading partners
require a BSE Surveillance Program for their continued trade with us.
Along
with the testing program, in early 2004, in response to the positive BSE
cow in Washington State that originated from Canada, USDA’s Food
Safety Inspection Service took measures to make sure that Specified Risk
Material (SRMs) are removed from all cattle over thirty months of age
that are slaughtered. SRMs include the brain, spinal column, retinas,
and the entire small intestine. These are the tissues in which the prion
that causes BSE could be found. It is accepted that animals under thirty
months of age do not get the disease; therefore, the SRMs only become a
concern after the animal reaches 30 months. Also, downer cows were no
longer allowed to be slaughtered and enter the human food chain. And
finally, if an animal is tested, before the meat or by-products enter
either the human food chain or are rendered for animal food, the carcass
is held until the test comes back negative. These measures were in
addition to measures put in place during the latter part of the
twentieth century, including banning the import of cattle from countries
known to have BSE and the banning of ruminant by-products in cattle
feed. With these firewalls in place, there is every reason for consumers
to be confident that the beef they buy is safe, wholesome, and
nutritious.
Also,
because of the nature of this disease, no threat is posed to other
cattle in the herd where she had resided over the past few months. BSE
is not contagious from cow-to-cow, and considering her age she was
likely infected by eating contaminated feed before the 1997 ban of
feeding ruminant by-products to other ruminants.
We
are working closely with the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association, the
Alabama Farmers Federation, the Alabama Department of Public Health, the
USDA Veterinary Services, and others to make sure that accurate
information is being provided to the public and that all standard
protocols are followed. We continue to work to make sure that the food
supply in the United States is the safest in the world and that the
health of the livestock and poultry in Alabama are protected. |
