March No.1 2003

I thought you might be interested in what the USA is currently doing and what future plans are for prevention of BSE disease in this country. The truth is our government remains very concerned about the entrance of BSE into this country. Plans are to perform many more preventive measures than currently recommended by international experts.

Last year I wrote about a landmark three-year risk analysis on BSE. This risk analysis was the most comprehensive risk assessment ever done on BSE. It was performed and published by Harvard University in the USA. Harvard is one of our most prestigious Universities. The conclusion of the reports revealed that the occurrence of BSE in the USA is highly unlikely.

The Harvard risk analysis was surprising. Government officials are still very concerned. Our government announced a series of actions in an effort to maintain a strong preventive program against BSE. The following is a listing of these actions:

a) Peer review of Harvard Risk Assessment to ensure scientific integrity. USA government identified several independent scientists to conduct independent analysis of the Harvard report. The scientists expect to complete their review by June, 2003.

b) Increase the number of BSE screening tests. There is an organization called the Office of International des Epizootics (OIE). OIE sets the standards for animal diseases. They include 162 member nations. OIE states that countries like the USA that are free of BSE, must test at least 500 suspect cows each year. The USA government decided to test nearly 20,000 cattle in the year 2002. Suspect animals tested include downer cows, cows that die on the farm and cows with neurological disease.

c) Creation of additional control policies. The main purpose here was to seek out consumer concerns on BSE and give the consumer a chance to influence preventive measures. These actions resulted in changes in the way that meat is processed. In June of 2002, the USA government announced proposed revisions for any slaughter house that uses vertebral columns in their meat packing process. A rule was finalized in December, 2002. The rule instructed inspectors at beef establishments, using vertebral columns as source materials, to take routine regulatory samples to verify that spinal cord was not present in the end product. If the spinal cord was present, then the product does not meet government labeling and inspection requirements for meat.

Air injection stunning devices. The use of air-injection stunning devices may soon be prohibited in the USA. Stunning devices may inadvertently force visible pieces of brain and spinal cord tissue, known as macro-emboli, into the circulatory system of stunned cattle. The risk of this happening is small but still may lead to stopping the use of air-injection stunning devices.

Disposal of dead animals. The rules on disposal of dead, dying, diseased, or downer animals will be strengthened. Businesses that deal with pick-up and processing of dead animals will be closely regulated. This will assist with government trace back if BSE was detected.

BSE is a notifiable disease in the USA. This means that Veterinarians are required to immediately notify the federal or state animal health authorities that they have seen a suspicious animal.

Laws have been strengthened to prohibit the use of most mammalian protein in the manufacture of animal feed intended for cows. The early adoption of this rule is thought to be the primary reason that the USA has remained free of BSE.

Reports of seven cases of BSE in Hokkaido continue to make news in the USA. Controlling an outbreak of BSE must be very difficult and challenging for Veterinarians and other officials. We hope Japanese officials are making the right decisions and the disease will soon be under control.

A Veterinarian at the University of Wisconsin was very instrumental in the early adoption of BSE preventative measures. He helped convince the USA government to pass laws restricting the use of ruminant proteins being fed back to ruminants. I think these laws were passed around 1975. The name of the veterinarian is Dr. Carl Olson. He had an outstanding career in Veterinary Virology at the University of Wisconsin.

We all look forward to the day when Japan will again be free of BSE. I hope that the public is not losing confidence in the safety of dairy and beef food products.