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To: patron_anejo_por_favor who wrote (276439)	2/5/2004 4:48:25 PM
From: mishedlo	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 436258

Mad Cow - Still More Report date 02/04/04: International experts say the disease is "indigenous" to North America, and it will take drastic measures to stop its spread RIVERDALE, Md. -- Mad cow disease probably has been established in North America for more than a decade, and Americans should be prepared for the discovery of more domestic cases as it spreads through herds. A panel of international experts released these findings Wednesday to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, also urging the Department of Agriculture to toughen protections put into place following the Dec. 23 discovery of an infected Holstein in Washington state. Those protections, while helpful, are not sufficient to keep mad cow disease from spreading further, or "amplifying," within the North American herd, the researchers concluded. oregonlive.com The "panel of international experts" is a subcommittee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Animal and Poultry Disease Advisory Committee. USDA, NCBA, AMI (American Meat Institute) and other industry groups are loudly condemning the panel's suggestion of more ambitious testing, saying in another piece not quoted here, "you can't test your way to food safety." No ? Why not ? USDA also said Dave Louthan, who testified yesterday to what he saw at Verns Moses Lake, is not a veterinarian and therefore not a credible source of information. The meat industry is going to have to improve its standards if they ever want the export business back. The Japanese, by standing firm in refusing to take our product, are doing more to protect US consumers than USDA. The scientific evidence and long-standing firewalls NCBA brings up are almost imaginary, and they didn't fool the panel. The "scientific evidence" is based on testing that's conscientiously avoided testing risky cattle. The "firewalls" are an incomplete and ineffective feed ban. Up until this winter, illegal Canadian feed containing beef parts continued to enter the US from some of the world's largest manufacturers. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association, a trade group in Centennial, Colo., representing the beef industry, questioned the panel's conclusions. Those conclusions are based on the erroneous notion "that the risk level in the United States for this disease is the same as the risk level in European countries," the NCBA said in a statement. "We take issue with this report because it implies the risk of BSE has not been mitigated in this country," said Gary Weber, the association's executive director of regulatory affairs. "That is simply not the case." The panel overlooked "scientific evidence that clearly demonstrates the long-standing firewalls in place in our country have been effective," Weber added. upi.com