Australian BSE system to stay
December 30, 2003
AUSTRALIA will maintain its testing system for mad cow disease as the United States readies to double the number of animals it checks for the brain-wasting disease.
A spokesman for Agriculture Minister Warren Truss said today there was no need for Australia to increase the number of animals tested, as it was already complying with international requirements.
The US is likely to double the number of cattle it tests for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) which, in its human form as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, has killed more than 120 people worldwide.
An animal with BSE was detected in the US on Christmas Eve.
Until that discovery the US, along with Australia and New Zealand were considered the only countries in the world guaranteed to be free of the disease.
In Australia, around 400 cattle with some signs of neurological problems are tested for mad cow disease annually.
Over seven years of testing, none has recorded any positive tests.
In 2001-02 more than 4000 cattle were tested, but again none was found to have the disease.
Australia has a herd of about 27 million, of which between eight million and nine million are slaughtered annually.
The US tests around 20,000 of the 35 million cattle slaughtered there annually.
But Mr Truss' spokesman said there was no need for Australia to change its testing regime.
He said Australia's testing regime was in line with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and European Union standards.
"We are testing enough to satisfy the requirements of the OIE and EU," he said.
"Australia continues to have the highest rating by both the OIE and EU, and we continue to maintain our clean and green image."
But if the OIE changed its position in light of the US discovery, then Australia would consider a shift in its testing system.
"If the OIE decided that there needed to be a change in testing then we would do that," he said.
BSE is thought to have developed from the feeding of ground animal parts to vegetation-eating ruminant animals such as cattle.
A ban introduced by Australian agricultural officials in 1966 may have played a major role in keeping BSE out of Australia.
Mr Truss' spokesman said the 1966 ban, introduced to prevent the introduction of anthrax, kept cattle feed made from animal products from Australia.
Although farmers were allowed to feed their cattle products made domestically from ground animals, this was only done on a small scale.
A further ban was introduced in 1996, preventing the feeding of any ruminants with products derived from ground-up animals.
Meanwhile, Japanese officials are expected in Australia in coming weeks to see if local producers can fill the void left by its ban on American beef imports.
Japan is already Australia's second largest beef market. The US, until the mad cow discovery, was Australia's largest market.
AAP
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