U.S. to expand mad-cow testing -- $70 million

The Seattle Times ^ | 3/16/2004 | By Sandi Doughton

[PolitBase]

U.S. to expand mad-cow testing

The federal government will greatly expand mad-cow testing for the next 12 to 18 months, collecting samples from at least 10 times as many animals as last year.

The temporary, intensive effort should answer questions about whether bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is present in American cattle, and if so, at what level, U.S. Department of Agriculture officials said yesterday.

"We believe that the prevalence of BSE in this country, if it exists at all, is extremely low," said USDA chief veterinarian Ron DeHaven. "Nevertheless, there is a chance that we could find more positive cattle."

The agency didn't set a specific target but said the goal is to test as many as possible out of an estimated population of about 446,000 high-risk animals — animals over the age of 30 months that are sick or unable to walk or that die on the farm. By testing between 201,000 and 268,000 high-risk animals, it should be possible to detect one infected cow out of 10 million cows, DeHaven said.

An additional 20,000 healthy, older animals also will be randomly selected for testing at plants that specialize in slaughtering dairy cows, including facilities in Washington.

In the past, testing was voluntary, but DeHaven said the USDA recently acquired the authority to require facilities to participate in the testing program.

Last year, the USDA tested about 20,000 animals out of 35 million slaughtered nationwide.

The agency had planned to test 40,000 this year, but several academic panels, congressional committees and consumer groups have been pressing for more aggressive testing.

The expanded program mirrors the recommendation of an international panel of experts convened by Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman after the nation's first mad-cow case was discovered in a Yakima-area Holstein shortly before Christmas. The group said the finding shows that mad cow is present in North America, and that more testing is warranted.

The only American to serve on the international panel praised USDA's actions.

"This will give us an idea of how many other cases are out there," said Will Hueston, director of the Center for Animal Health and Safety at the University of Minnesota.

Veneman said the additional testing will cost about $70 million but may help persuade countries like Japan and North Korea to once again open their doors to U.S. beef.

"We are hopeful that this surveillance plan will help to assure our trading partners that we are committed to a strong BSE prevention program," she said.

Nearly 50 nations barred imports of American beef after the mad-cow case, and only Poland and Mexico have fully or partially lifted the bans. Japan has insisted that the United States follow its practice of testing every animal slaughtered for food. In the United Kingdom and most European countries, every animal over the age of 30 months is tested.

But DeHaven said there's no reason to test more animals in the United States, because the risk here is so low.

Also, USDA's program is not designed to ensure that all beef is BSE-free, but to simply gauge the prevalence of the disease. While the former might require all animals be tested, the latter only requires testing of a statistically significant sample, he said.

Consumer advocates criticized that approach and said the testing program still falls short.

"It's a tiny step in the right direction, but the glaring problem here is that this testing is for surveillance and not for food safety," said Felicia Nestor, food-safety director for the Government Accountability Project, a watchdog group.

James Reagan, vice president of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, said the group supports expanded testing, as long as the program is workable.

For example, he said, the use of rapid BSE tests, which give results within a matter of hours, will be crucial.

USDA plans to approve rapid tests within the next two months, DeHaven said. Any positive tests will be confirmed at USDA's Iowa laboratory, using the current "gold standard" method that can take two weeks.

USDA also plans to work with regional state and university laboratories to process the samples, which will be collected from across the country based on cattle populations, DeHaven said.

Since USDA banned so-called "downer" animals from the food chain in December, the agency will now have to turn to rendering plants, farmers and veterinarians to find the dead and sick animals to test. The $70 million will include money to pay the cost of collecting those animals, so farmers won't be tempted to simply bury them in a pasture.

The healthy animals will be randomly selected from the 40 slaughterhouses in 17 states — including Washington — that process most of the older dairy cattle slaughtered for food, DeHaven said.

The new program will begin ramping up immediately, and should be at full speed by June 1. After 12-18 months, USDA will evaluate the program to see if testing should continue at a high level or can be scaled back, DeHaven said.

The agency also is considering a request from some meatpackers that they be allowed to test every animal slaughtered.

[PolitBase]

Why am are my taxes paying for this when not one person is sick?

[NC28203]

Because "Nearly 50 nations barred imports of American beef after the mad-cow case, and only Poland and Mexico have fully or partially lifted the bans. "

[NC28203]

As a follow up, here is why.
Value of beef and veal exports in January 2004 versus January 2003 in $1,000s: 219,549 vs 10,069, a decline of 95.41%.
Perhaps the question should not be why, but who. Seems like the producers and packers that benefit from the testing should be paying for it rather than the government.

[PolitBase]

A much better idea. But the idea of private enterprise playing a role seems like it's gone the way of Green Stamps.