NewsMine — nature-health — livestock — madcow — Viewing Item

Testing for mad cow to end after third case found Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-03-14T235217Z_01_N14374166_RTRUKOC_0_US-MADCOW-USDA-SURVEILLANCE.xml http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-03-14T235217Z_01_N14374166_RTRUKOC_0_US-MADCOW-USDA-SURVEILLANCE.xml Consumer groups urge US not to cut mad cow tests Tue Mar 14, 2006 6:52 PM ET By Christopher Doering WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer groups on Tuesday urged the government to continue its enhanced testing program for mad cow disease, saying any move to end or dramatically curb the program would send the wrong message to Americans and U.S. beef importers. As the Agriculture Department nears a decision on the enhanced surveillance program it adopted after the first U.S. mad cow case, it is gathering input from scientists, industry officials and others. An agency official spoke on Monday of "the conclusion" of the program. Advocates of enhanced testing said the administration's proposed 2007 budget includes funds for only a fraction of the cattle tests that have been performed in recent years. USDA said on Monday an Alabama beef cow was infected with mad cow disease, the third time the ailment has been found in the United States in the past 27 months. "It seems to be unwise to say you're going to ratchet it...down right after you've had another positive," said Carol Tucker Foreman of the Consumer Federation of America. "I don't know how you explain either to American consumers or to people in Japan that we want to sell beef to that you're going to stop looking for something because you found it." The first case of the disease was found in Washington in 2003. USDA launched an enhanced cattle testing program in June 2004 to look at animals seen at the highest risk for mad cow disease. The enhanced program, which was to run for 12 to 18 months, remains in place. It has tested more than 650,000 animals -- far more than initially planned -- and was responsible for finding two of the three cases of the brain-waisting cattle ailment in the United States. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said in January he would decide the future of the program in "early 2006." USDA on Monday offered the first hint of its plans when Agriculture Department Chief Veterinarian John Clifford mentioned "the conclusion" of the program. "As we talk about the conclusion of our enhanced surveillance program I wanted to reiterate and state that program was to take a snapshot in time to give us an estimate of prevalence," Clifford said during a telephone news conference on the new mad cow case. "That was quite a striking statement," said Jane Halloran, a policy director for Consumers Union. "The alternative is to put your head in the sand and ignore the problems. The consequences of that are potentially disastrous," she added. Consumers Union, which urged the government to test all cattle over the age of 20 months at slaughter, said the 2007 fiscal budget provides enough funds to conduct only 40,000 tests, or about 0.1 percent of the 35 million cattle slaughtered in the United States each year. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, said she opposed any move by USDA to reduce the testing program. "I intend to fight any funding proposals that may cause a decrease in testing and would inevitably reduce the effectiveness of the system," she said. So far, global markets have had a muted reaction to the discovery of the third U.S. case of mad cow. USDA spokesman Ed Loyd said in responses to e-mail questions that the overall reaction has been "very measured" as more countries develop "an increasing understanding worldwide of (the) safety of U.S. beef." Two major Asian markets said the new U.S. case would not cause any immediate change in plans. South Korea was scheduled to resume U.S. beef purchases in April. Japan and the United States are discussing refinements to U.S. meat inspections.

300 cases a year of CJD in america Alabama cow tests positive for disease { March 13 2006 } Briton from houston has mad cow disease Bush wants mad cow testing to stop { May 9 2008 } Canada cows mad cow quarantine Canada mad cow animal may have reached US Canada shock wave madcow { May 20 2003 } Canadian madcow Cow destroyed before tested for madcow { May 3 2004 } Dispute of condition of washington mad cow Fda proposed banning brains from animal feed { October 5 2005 } Feds investigated 20 cases for human mad cow Florida women died of mad cow disease Human variant mad cow is puzzle { January 3 2004 } Inspector general details flaws in madcow testing { July 15 2004 } Mad cow disease found in goat { January 28 2005 } Mad cow dog food recalled { May 27 2003 } Mad cow may be affecting more humans Mad cow texas { January 26 2001 } Madcow maybe from us More us cattle likely to have mad cow disease { February 5 2004 } Mysterious mad cow cases found texas alabama { June 12 2006 } Natural beef sales outpace conventional beef Plants violating mad cow rules Possible new case of mad cow disease Reports possible case of madcow disease { November 18 2004 } Study finds broader reach for mad cow proteins { January 21 2005 } Suspected case of mad cow { June 12 2005 } Testing for mad cow to end after third case found Tests confirm second mad cow case { June 25 2005 } Tests if texas death linked to mad cow disease Third us herd quarantined in madcow investigation Upto 100 more mad cow cases expected Us may pay farmers to test for madcow { January 2 2004 } Usad investigates third possible mad cow Usda not testing animals at risk for madcow Usda probes 3rd case of mad cow { July 27 2005 } Usda says mad cow probe could take months Usda scales back mad cow testing { June 2006 } Files Listed: 39

Correction/submissions

CIA FOIA Archive

National Security Archives

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information, go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purpose of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.