| ||||
|
|
Third time's a charm, but not with BSE
It's no secret that the road to protecting the herd (not to mention American consumers) from the threat of a bovine spongiform encephalopathy has been a rocky one. Since the now infamous dairy cow in Washington tested positive for BSE, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has implemented a great deal of increased oversight and safety measures to ensure that we test, monitor and eliminate the possibility that a BSE-infected cow enters the food chain. From SRMs to IHC, acronyms once kept to lab researchers are now common from ranch to dinner table.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture first had trouble trying to coordinate standards between the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) not to mention further oversight by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) but they have somehow muddled through--without another positive case of BSE until recently.
As a part of their increased BSE surveillance efforts, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) last year tested over 350,000 cows for the brain-wasting disease. Under advisement from the USDA Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Sec. Johanns recently initiated a third round of testing on the three animals with inconclusive testing results from last year.
The most recent testing involved the tissue samples that had since been stored frozen at USDA labs in Ames, Iowa, scientists used the Western Blot, different from the previous methods of testing. Like the standard IHC test, the Western Blot is internationally recognized and considered an effective tool to determine the occurrence of BSE in cattle. USDA typically uses the IHC test does not readily apply the Western Blot test. The results of the most recent Western Blot test came up with a weak-positive result for what the November 2004 cow--which, according to USDA, means the animal has some sort of prion-related disease but this is not a confirmed case of BSE. The samples are now under the microscopes of BSE experts in Weybridge, England.
If this sounds confusing, you're right. While Sec. Veneman was still at the helm, she responded to growing industry and consumer concerns with oversight by supporting OIG investigative oversight regarding the BSE surveillance measures. Top USDA advisors have indicated the new testing stems from an OIG recommendation. Specifically, in the Washington state BSE case, both the Western Blot and IHC tests were used to confirm the occurrence of the brain-wasting disease.
That's all and well, but the timing is a bit questionable. The animal was declared BSE-free and was incinerated roughly eight months ago making the recent round of tests seem almost silly given the time frame. And, lets not kid ourselves, this has a real effect on market prices--and immeasurable effects on the current negotiations in reopening the South Korean and Japanese markets.
Adding to the calamity, a handful of trading partners including Taiwan and Egypt--both leaders in reopening markets to U.S. beef--have expressed grave concern regarding this new testing. They have even gone so far as to say they would close their borders again to American beef if this new test result is positive for BSE. All of this for retesting on a cow that has been dead for over seven months and never even entered the food supply?
Did we really need to retest? It may be oversimplifying the issue, but if our protocol for BSE testing is based on sound, internationally approved science, should we rely on a handful of lawyers to determine the validity of science? Only time will tell. We should be able to get our hands on results from Weybridge at the end of this week or the first of next.
Date: 6/22/05
Copyright 1995-2008. High Plains Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Any republishing of these pages, including electronic reproduction of the editorial archives or classified advertising, is strictly prohibited. If you have questions or comments you can reach us at High Plains Journal 1500 E. Wyatt Earp Blvd., P.O. Box 760, Dodge City, KS 67801 or call 1-800-452-7171. Email: webmaster@hpj.com
 
| |||||||||||||||||||||
