BSE Disease: Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee

CURRENT STATUS:
Direct link to USDA updates

Safety of beef in North America received detailed public discussion June 9, 2005 when the US Secretary of Agriculture hosted experts on BSE, food safety and packing plants in the US and Canada.
Direct USDA links to replay and transcripts
USDA fact sheet on protecting against BSE
(opens 2 page pdf file on USDA website)

Feb 3, 2005 hearing - USDA Secretary Johanns
answers questions about cattle and beef imports tied to plans for new restrictions on Canadian beef and cattle.
Replay of 2 hr hearing
free software available from RealPlayer™ website

Previously....
After the Dec 23, 2003 case of a Canadian cow confirmed the first case of BSE at a dairy farm in the state of Washington, the Committee held a hearing regarding the impacts on food safety, livestock marketing, and international trade.
Witnesses' opening statements at Jan 27, 2004 hearing

Resources:
(each links to a site away from the US Senate)
FOOD SAFETY:
Risk to humans from BSE in cattle (Mayo Clinic)

BSE disease (Centers for Disease Control)

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE:
International Subcommittee reviews USDA actions

FDA expansion of animal feed ban (FDA)

Harvard Risk Assessment summary 4-page pdf
entire report 127 page pdf file (APHIS)

Chronology of Gov't Actions (APHIS)

LIVESTOCK MARKETING:
Livestock trace - Subcommittee explores best means - from farm to market
2-hr hearing replay.
free software available from RealPlayer™ website

Risk Assessment: Testing for BSE pdf (APHIS)

Animal ID proposed plan (USAIP)

TRADE:
Countries Banning US beef imports (APHIS)

The OIE -- Office of International Epizootics -- is the world organization for animal health which collects and analyzes the latest scientific information on animal disease control.
"The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has become increasingly concerned about reports of international trade disruptions involving the misinterpretation of OIE standards. ....
For example, fresh meat may be imported safely from a country of any BSE status but with increasing restrictions so that, for countries presenting a high BSE risk, more severe measures are applied to the cattle and to the meat itself. The experts consider that, if these measures are followed, the meat is safe."
OIE statement regarding BSE trade bans by nations (issued Jan 9, 2004)

Bovine
Spongiform
Encephalopathy

BSE (commonly known as "mad cow disease") is a slowly progressive, incurable cattle disease of the central nervous system, first diagnosed in Britain in 1986.

Cattle's consumption of BSE-contaminated ruminant proteins in animal feed has been cited as one possible means of transmission.
Human consumption of brain and spinal cord-related tissue from BSE-infected cattle is believed to be the source of variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease in humans.

USDA banned the importation of live cattle from Great Britain in 1989, and imposed a partial ban on using ruminant protein in animal feed in 1997.

Ruminant - An animal with a stomach that has four compartments, and a more complex digestive system than other mammals.
Ruminants include cattle, sheep, goats, deer, bison, elk, and camels.
However, swine, dogs, and humans are examples of
non-ruminants.