USDA Should Clean American Beef Industry to Eradicate Mad Cow Disease

On April 24, USDA confirmed that a fourth case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or BSE, commonly known as mad cow disease, has been discovered. It is the first case of mad cow disease in the United States since 2006. BSE is a fatal brain wasting disease amongst cows that can be transmitted to humans who eat infected beef. The human version, called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), which has not been reported, is also fatal.

Photo courtesy: Marijnvb, sxc.hu

USDA stated that a single cow, already dead and waiting to be pulverized at a rendering plant in central California, had tested positive for a mutant strain of the brain wasting BSE. The mad cow was never meant to be eaten, USDA's press release seemed to reassure Americans, and the particular strain of BSE isn't linked to contaminated feed (some strains of mad cow can appear spontaneously in older cows instead of being transmitted). But the only convincing reassurance that I read "as the epidemiological investigation progresses," was that milk, even from BSE cows, is safe.

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It really is time for USDA to clean up American beef. Take a tougher stance against bovine growth hormone. No pink slime, no non-vegetarian cows eating soybean meal laced with blood, chicken and pigs! The same applies to our nation's cannibal poultry and pork. While yesterday's mad cow may be the only one, it is time for USDA to make some dramatic changes to our meat industry.

Related news: USDA Confirms Single Mad Cow Disease Case in California

USDA Confirms Single Mad Cow Disease Case in California

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed on April 24 America's fourth case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a dairy cow from central California. According to the USDA, the carcass of the animal is being held under state authority at a rendering facility in California and will be destroyed.

Rendering, which dates to the early Egyptians, is a polite term used to describe the business of disposing of dead animals. According to the National Renderers Association, more than 205 rendering facilities in the United States and Canada pick up 59 billion pounds of inedible animal by-products annually from slaughterhouses, restaurants, farms, even shelters, which are then steam cooked. Products from the resulting brew is used as lubricants, polish, wax, as well as lipstick, gel capsules, and soap. They are also used in livestock feed and animal food, possibly resulting in cannibalistic practices. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency details the rendering process in this document.

Courtesy: sxc.hu

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy has been linked to tainted livestock feed containing brain and spinal matter. Humans eating infected beef can develop vCJD (Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease), a fatal brain wasting disease with unusually long incubation periods measured in years. According to the CDC, the median age of age for vCJD patients was 28 years.

As of October 26, 2009, a regulation issued by FDA in April 2009 came into effect establishing an enhanced BSE-related feed ban in the United States. This enhanced ban will further harmonize BSE feed control measures in the U.S. with those in Canada (see below). In addition, FDA continues to enforce its important 1997 mammalian-to-ruminant feed ban through its BSE inspection and BSE feed testing programs.

FDA has published two rules to protect animals and consumers against BSE by prohibiting the use of most mammalian protein in the manufacture of animals feeds given to ruminant animals (no cannibalism) and by removing specified risk materials (SRM), primarily brain and spinal tissue of aged animals, from all animal feed. These rules were published in 1997 and 2008. Canada has similar rules for safeguarding against BSE.
The press release from USDA stated "The United States has had longstanding interlocking safeguards to protect human and animal health against BSE. For public health, these measures include the USDA ban on specified risk materials, or SRMs, from the food supply. SRMs are parts of the animal that are most likely to contain the BSE agent if it is present in an animal. USDA also bans all non-ambulatory (sometimes called "downer") cattle from entering the human food chain. For animal health, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ban on ruminant material in cattle feed prevents the spread of the disease in the cattle herd."

Samples from diseased cow were tested at USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa. Results confirmed the cow was positive for atypical BSE, a very rare form of the disease not generally associated with an animal consuming infected feed and happens spontaneously. The laboratory results are being shared with international animal health reference laboratories in Canada and England, which will review our confirmation of this form of the disease. USDA will also be conducting a comprehensive epidemiological BSE investigation in conjunction with California animal and public health officials and the FDA.

Since vCJD is fatal in humans, cases of BSE often lead to panic among consumers and beef export bans. As a result, the USDA reiterated that the BSE infected animal was never presented for slaughter for human consumption. Additionally, USDA reminded consumers that cow milk does not transmit BSE.

Related news: First Person: Managing the Risk and Cost of Food Borne Illnesses in a World of Food Recalls

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