US Case of Mad Cow Disease

[Johnney]

LOL, No problem, glad i could help

 

[Johnney]

Great photo but have you talked to the chooks.

thats chicken if im not mistaken.

 

[jimnyc]

WASHINGTON - The Holstein infected with mad cow disease in Washington state was imported into the United States from Canada about two years ago, federal investigators tentatively concluded Saturday.

Dr. Ron DeHaven, chief veterinarian for the Agriculture Department, said Canadian officials have provided records that indicate the animal was one of a herd of 74 cattle shipped from Alberta, Canada, into this country in August 2001 at Eastport, Idaho.

"These animals were all dairy cattle and entered the U.S. only about two or two-and-a-half years ago, so most of them are still likely alive," DeHaven said.

DeHaven emphasized that the sick cow's presence in that herd does not mean all 74 animals are infected. Investigators are tracking down where the other 73 animals are.

"We feel confident that we are going to be able to determine the whereabouts of most, if not all, of these animals within several days," DeHaven said.

Confirming that the sick cow came from Canada will be crucial for the United States to continue exporting beef because it could retain its disease-free status. The country has lost 90 percent of its exports because of the case, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (news - web sites) estimates, because more than two dozen foreign nations have banned the import of U.S. beef despite claims by U.S. officials that the meat is safe.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=2&u=/ap/20031227/ap_on_he_me/mad_cow_87

 

[Isaac Brock]

Originally posted by jimnyc
WASHINGTON - The Holstein infected with mad cow disease in Washington state was imported into the United States from Canada about two years ago, federal investigators tentatively concluded Saturday.

Dr. Ron DeHaven, chief veterinarian for the Agriculture Department, said Canadian officials have provided records that indicate the animal was one of a herd of 74 cattle shipped from Alberta, Canada, into this country in August 2001 at Eastport, Idaho.

"These animals were all dairy cattle and entered the U.S. only about two or two-and-a-half years ago, so most of them are still likely alive," DeHaven said.

DeHaven emphasized that the sick cow's presence in that herd does not mean all 74 animals are infected. Investigators are tracking down where the other 73 animals are.

"We feel confident that we are going to be able to determine the whereabouts of most, if not all, of these animals within several days," DeHaven said.

Confirming that the sick cow came from Canada will be crucial for the United States to continue exporting beef because it could retain its disease-free status. The country has lost 90 percent of its exports because of the case, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (news - web sites) estimates, because more than two dozen foreign nations have banned the import of U.S. beef despite claims by U.S. officials that the meat is safe.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=2&u=/ap/20031227/ap_on_he_me/mad_cow_87

Youch... that's not good news.

 

[Annie]

Well maybe not for Canada, though I think in the long run it is. They've already proved they are getting ahead of the problem. Now if they can find all the other cows...

 

[jimnyc]

Originally posted by Isaac Brock
Youch... that's not good news.

I guess not, but I think if the US and Canada work together on this it won't be so bad. Exports are going to be banned until a declaration can be made that all the cows are clean, so it's imperative that we work together to gain back confidence. In other words, I don't think we are going to see a repeat of the 80's on this one.

 

[nbdysfu]

So if 90% of US exports and Canada are banned, that leaves ... Australia and the UK to supply beef? Good for Graeme

 

[Annie]

I hope they get to this asap. Looks like they are. Heard yesterday they thought it would take weeks, even months to trace back. Whamo, today they seem to have found source. Now they got to find the rest of them. Seems they should also STOP the practice of slaughtering sick animals.

 

[Graeme Kessey]

It is better that they put these cattle down,to die from B.S.E. is a much crueler way to die. A quick bullet stops a lot of pain.

 

[Annie]

Graeme Kessey, I didn't make myself clear. I'm all for killing the sick animal, I meant for human consumption.

 

[Graeme Kessey]

Good God,If we do that what will eat with our boring vegetables.

 

[Isaac Brock]

Originally posted by jimnyc
I guess not, but I think if the US and Canada work together on this it won't be so bad. Exports are going to be banned until a declaration can be made that all the cows are clean, so it's imperative that we work together to gain back confidence. In other words, I don't think we are going to see a repeat of the 80's on this one.

Indeed... one thing I'd like to see in both countries is banning of cow products in cow feed. It's a barbaric and sick practice that is too prevalent in this day and age. However, that being said, the great problem with mad cow disease, is that it can pop up anywhere as a natural, if rare, disease.

I think what's more important to realize is that compared to other diseases that can be found in beef, mad cow is so amazingly minor to human health. Not eating beef, is a silly reaction. MCD's real concern is in its ability to wipe out entire herds. This is akin to what is happening to elk and deer around both countries with Chronic Wasting Disease.

 

[Annie]

OK guys, I am not and have no plans on giving up meat, beef or other. This cow was sick, unable to stand. The rancher had it slaughtered and it was brought to market.

THAT was my point. Sick animals should not be used for human consumption. If the government wants to subsidize for their loss, ok.

 

[Annie]

This is what I was talking about, I guess I wasn't alone:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...ashpost/20031231/ts_washpost/a42271_2003dec30

Meat From Infirm Animals Is Banned
Wed Dec 31, 4:09 AM ET Add Top Stories - washingtonpost.com to My Yahoo!


By Shankar Vedantam, Washington Post Staff Writer

Animals too sick or old to stand or walk will be banned from entering the food supply, federal officials said yesterday, in a move that would keep from 150,000 to 200,000 "downer" cattle a year from going to the slaughterhouse.

The measure, long sought by food safety advocates, will take effect immediately. It is part of a broad range of new regulations announced yesterday as the Bush administration urgently works to restore consumer confidence and protect exports in the nation's beef industry. The rules come one week after the first U.S. case of mad cow disease was detected in a Washington state Holstein. Since then, beef prices have plummeted, and nearly three dozen countries have refused to accept American beef.


The new rules are perhaps the most ambitious proposed in a generation. Some have long been under consideration at the Department of Agriculture. One was proposed by the beef industry. But it has taken the potent combination of the first case of a dreaded disease, crippling trade sanctions and a consumer backlash to bring them to fruition.


The new rules will include a complex electronic tracking system to keep tabs on cattle from the time they leave birth farms to the day they reach the slaughterhouse. The absence of such a system has hampered the current investigation, making it difficult to know where the Holstein became infected and which other animals are at risk.


Other measures will hold carcasses at slaughterhouses until tests come back negative for mad cow disease -- a 13-day delay in test results allowed meat from the infected Holstein to be shipped to several western states and Guam. New regulations will also limit which animal tissues can be turned into food and will ban certain meat industry practices that pose risks to the human food supply.


The measures do not imply that the nation's food safety was breached by the infected Holstein or that public health is at risk, officials said. Some of the measures will be published in the Federal Register and become effective immediately afterward.


"While we are confident that the United States has safeguards and firewalls needed to protect public health, these additional actions will further strengthen our protection systems," Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman said as she announced the measures at USDA headquarters. President Bush (news - web sites) approved the new measures, which were developed in cooperation with the White House's economic aides.


Different advocacy groups welcomed the new rules for a range of reasons. American Meat Institute President J. Patrick Boyle said the "extraordinary" measures should prompt Japan and other importers to reconsider their suspensions of beef imports. Karen Taylor Mitchell of the food safety advocacy group Safe Tables Our Priority called it "a great first step that is long overdue." The Humane Society of the United States said keeping downer animals from being dragged to the slaughterhouse will reduce cruelty to animals.


The ban on downers has long been resisted by the beef industry. Since at least 1992, lawmakers, animal rights activists and consumer groups have tried and failed to pass a law prohibiting slaughter of downer animals for human consumption, saying that such animals increase the risk of transmitting a variety of diseases. Last month, congressional Republicans killed legislation that closely tracked Veneman's announcement yesterday. Industry lobbyists have previously said such a ban was too broad and would include not only diseased animals but also cows with broken legs or muscle problems.


Just a week ago, Bryan Dierlam, director of legislative affairs for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (news - web sites), said, "Many non-ambulatory animals don't pose a threat to the food supply, and just using that as a litmus test isn't the way to go."


Yesterday, Jay Truitt, executive director of legislative affairs at the association, said: "Maybe we have had some disagreements in the past, but we end up in the same place as USDA today. We want to make sure consumer confidence is maintained and grows, and that we stamp this disease out of the United States."


Not all cattle with mad cow disease are downers, but once the disease is advanced, it can cause animals to become wobbly and fall. Downers also include older animals and those who have other diseases or injuries.


Agriculture Department officials conducted more than 20,000 tests last year for mad cow disease, many on downers brought to slaughter. The infected Holstein was a downer, but Dec. 9 records from a Moses Lake, Wash., slaughterhouse indicate that she was non-ambulatory because of a recent birthing injury, officials said. Details of what is to become of downer cows have not yet been worked out, but officials said that tests for mad cow disease will be conducted on both downer animals and some healthy animals brought to slaughter.


The carcasses of cattle selected for tests at slaughterhouses will be held for 36 to 48 hours until tests on brain samples prove they do not have mad cow disease -- a "test and hold" proposal that Dierlam said the Cattlemen's Association had previously made to the USDA. Rapid tests are not in widespread use in the United States, and government officials said they will use a range of different techniques being employed in Europe.


Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, is believed to be transmitted through misshapen proteins called prions. Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (news - web sites), which is associated with eating brain and spinal tissue from infected cattle, has killed 154 people.


Government regulators also said they are strengthening the ban on potentially infectious animal tissues entering the food supply. The skull, brain, eyes and spinal cord of cattle older than 30 months, and the small intestines of all cattle, will not be allowed into the food supply. Procedures will be put in place to verify the age of animals.


The new rules also impose limits on three techniques employed by the meat industry. Advanced meat recovery, a high-pressure technology to remove muscle from bone, that some consumer safety groups have warned can suck infectious spinal tissue into food, will be limited. The industry will no longer be allowed to label as "meat" any nerve cells and other spinal tissue extracted with this technology.





Another rule prohibits the use of air-injection stunning, a method of killing cattle that can blast bits of infected brain into meat. A third rule prohibits mechanically separated meat.

Boyle of the American Meat Institute said the new measures will cost the industry millions of dollars. Veneman, however, said, "I don't expect any increase in the price for consumers."

One of the most ambitious proposals is the introduction of a national identification system that would electronically track animals from the time they leave their birth farms to the day they are slaughtered, said W. Ron DeHaven, deputy administrator and chief veterinary officer at the USDA.

DeHaven said that the new measures are being undertaken out of an abundance of caution. "Nothing we have announced today changes any of that," he said. "These actions do not suggest in any way that the meat produced in this system is in any way unsafe."

Staff writers Guy Gugliotta and Caroline E. Mayer in Washington and Mike Allen in Crawford, Tex., contributed to this report.

 

[lilcountriegal]

I'm with ya Kathianne. I dont plan on giving up my beef. I'm just hoping I'll be able to get a good steak at a cheap price before the prices go back to normal.

As far as slaughtering sick animals for human consumption, I agree that they should not. However, I remember hearing recently with this Mad Cow story that it can be difficult telling the difference between a truly sick cow. Apparently, when a cow has had multiple calfs, she can become unable to stand as well. They are finding it difficult to tell the difference between a truly sick cow and a cow that is just ragged with age and/or the birthing process.

I'm pretty comfortable with the USDA checks on the meat. I have no plans on cutting down my beef consumption.

 

[Annie]

I do not plan on cutting down either, though I'm glad I've always been fussy about ground meat, I go early, buy a sirloin or chuck steak and watch them grind. Don't get there late, for grinding later includes all sorts of nasties from daily grinds.

US pop. was never at the risk of Euros, as few here find brains a delicacy. yuk! Give me sirlioin or tenderloin anytime.

As for the cows going down, I understand the farmers/ranchers dilema, however as I posted earlier, since we pay subsidies for what not to grow, why not for cows they can't slaughter?

 

[DKSuddeth]

I wonder if the quality of Dog food will now become a bit better.

i.e. will they use the 'too old to stand or walk' cattle for a new brand of alpo?

 

[Annie]

OK, that's gross, funny, but gross!

 

[MtnBiker]

Originally posted by lilcountriegal
I'm with ya Kathianne. I dont plan on giving up my beef. I'm just hoping I'll be able to get a good steak at a cheap price before the prices go back to normal.

That is what I thought Lilcountriegal, I assumed the price of beef would go down also. But I was wrong. It did dip alittle bit but not much and not for very long. What happed was the cattle producers were actually sending smaller cattle to market in the holiday months before the case of mad cow, because of such high demand. (the improved economy and the trend of low carb diets) This gave the growers some breathing room to hold on to the cattle without trouble of them becoming over weight. In escense controlling the supply to the market. So, although exports have been banned, demand in the U.S. is still high and the suppliers have just cut back on production and the price of beef remains high.

And a side note. I know a lady who use to sell beef brains to local Indain tribal members for hide tanning (a substancial income for some), however the USDA has put a ban on brains and she can no longer receive and sell them.