Tag Archives: Mad Cow Disease

Bill Introduced in House to Make Downer Ban Permanent

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Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) recently introduced a bill in the House of Representatives which would permanently ban downed animals — animals which fall and cannot get up under their own power — from entering the food supply.

After a cow in the United States tested positive for Mad Cow Disease in 2003, a temporary ban on the slaughter of downed animals for food was put into place by U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns.

The bill would require that any downed animals be immediately and humanely euthanized and adds that,

It shall be unlawful for an inspector at an establishment to pass through inspection any nonambulatory livestock or carcass (including parts of a carcass) of nonambulatory livestock.

The USDA would be given one year from passage of the bill into law to promulgate regulations for the humane slaughter of downed animals and their exclusion from the food supply.

The full text of the bill can be read here.

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Small Study of Macaques and BSE Suggests Low Transmission Risk

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British medical journal, The Lancet, published the results of a small-scale French study into the transmissibility of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The results confirm what the evidence and computer models have already implied — that the risk of transmission of BSE from animals to humans in the form of vCJD is very low. The small size of the study, however, do limit the ability to extrapolate from the study.

Researchers took two adult macaque monkeys and exposed them to five grams of brain tissue from a BSE-infected cow. After five years, one of the macaques developed symptoms of a vCJD-like disease while the other macaque remains health and symptom-free.

The French researchers suggest that in order to have a sizable risk of infection, and individual would have to eat about 3.3 pounds of meat from an infected cow. Since current slaughterhouse regulations in the UK and elsewhere are able to detect BSE-infected meat when it hits a threshhold slight less than that from an infected cow, the French research suggests that such existing regulations are well tuned to prevent further such infections.

The researchers also suggest that the incubation period for BSE in humans could be, on average, greater than 50 years, which would explain why so few people have died from vCJD despite presumably widespread exposure to BSE-infected beef in the UK. Other studies have suggested that the vCJD incubation period may, on average, be significantly longer than current human lifespans.

The vCJD epidemic appears to have peaked in Great Britain. Where 18 people died from vCJD in 2003, only 9 people succumbed to the disease in 2004 and there are only five additional suspected cases of the disease in Great Britain.

Sources:

Study optimism on mad-cow disease. News.Com.Au, January 27, 2005.

Risk of oral infection with bovine spongiform encephalopathy agent in primates. Corinne Ida Lasmézas, et al., The Lancet, January 27, 2005.

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New vCJD Data, Projections Released in the UK

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Lets take a look at where the United Kingdom is in its vCJD breakout, usually ascribed to the transmission of Mad Cow Disease.

In 2004, the number of people who died from vCJD continued to decline. A total of 9 people died from vCJD in 2004, compared to 18 deaths in 2003.

So far, a total of 148 people have died from vCJD and there are currently 5 people alive who are believed to be suffering from vCJD.

How many more people are likely to die from vCJD? An Imperial College London study released in January suggests that about 70 more people in Great Britain will become ill with vCJD.

Thousands of people likely harbor the defective prions, but for a variety of reasons will never exhibit symptoms of the disease in their lifetimes. Only about 40 percent of the British population has the specific genetic makeup that makes them susceptible to the disease. Moreover even in those susceptible to the disease, for most the incubation period will last longer than their lifespan.

Sources:

UK Department of Health, Monthly Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Statistics, Press Release 2005/0009, January 10, 2005.

Thousands of Britons may carry vCJD. James Reynolds, The Scotsman, January 12, 2005.

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UK to Warn Blood Transfusion Recipients of vCJD Risk

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United Kingdom Health officials announced this month that they will warn people who received blood transfusions from people who later died of vCJD that they may be at risk of the disease as well.

The decisions follows on a report earlier this month in the Lancet that documented the second case of transmission of vCJD via blood transfusion. In that case, however, the vCJD infection was found in the spleen and the deceased did not have any symptoms of vCJD.

The Scottish Press Association reported,

A Department of Health spokesman said: \”The HPA has carried out a risk assessment exercise, as indicated by the Secretary of State in his December 2003 statement.

\”The Department of Health has asked the HPA to lead on preparations for notifying patients who have received plasma products, and we have been working with the Agency, clinician\’s representatives and the patient groups on this.\”

Source:

Blood recipients to get vCJD warning. Scottish Press Association, August 29, 2004.

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California Bill to Require Public Notification of Meat and Poultry Recalls Heads to Governor

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The California legislature this week approved Senate Bill 1585 which essentially rescinds an agreement between the California Department of Health Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture by requiring that companies notify the state if they sold or received recalled meat or poultry.

Under federal law, recalls of meat and poultry products are voluntary. To that end, the USDA typically keeps the information about the particulars of recalls as confidential. So consumers might learn that a recall of chicken from a poultry producer is under way, but the USDA will not make public a list of stores that were affected by the recall.

That policy caused a controversy in 2002 when the USDA refused to give the California DHS a list of stores effected by a recall of E. coli-infected meat. The state and the USDA entered into an agreement at that time that the USDA would provide the information and in return the DHS would not make the information public.

That agreement in turn created a controversy in December 2003 with a recall of beef prompted by a calf that tested positive fro Mad Cow disease. That recall affected quite a few restaurants and stores in California, but neither DHS nor the USDA would publicly reveal which restaurants and stores were affected.

The new bill would require the stores and restaurants to notify the DHS that they have been the subject of a recall and, in certain types of recalls, would require the DHS to in turn inform the public about the details of the recall.

The bill\’s only serious opposition has been from the DHS itself which complains that collecting and publishing data on recalled meat will cost about $400,000/year, but the bill provides no additional funding for this task.

A spokeswoman for California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told the Sacramento Bee that the governor had not yet taken a position on the bill. The full text of the legislation can be read here.

Source:

Mad cow secrecy may end. Jon Ortiz, Sacramento Bee, August 27, 2004.

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Are More People Infected with vCJD Than Previously Thought

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A report this week in the Lancet raises the possibility that the number of people infected with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease — believed to be contracted from exposure to mad cow disease — may be larger than originally thought.

Models that have predicted relatively low total cases rest on a number of assumptions, including that vCJD appeared to infect only a minority of Caucasian with a specific genetic profile. But The Lancet report describes the discovery of vCJD infection in an individual who did not share that specific genetic profile.

The deceased, who died from causes unrelated to vCJD, apparently contracted the disease not from eating infected meat, however, but rather through a blood transfusion from an individual who was infected with vCJD. This is the second known case of transmission of vCJD through blood transfusion.

Second, the deceased\’s vCJD infection was located not in the brain or nervous system, but rather in the spleen, explaining why the deceased never developed any symptoms of the disease.

Sources:

Blood Transfusion Linked to 2nd Human Case of Mad Cow. Mark Kaufman, Washington Post, August 5, 2004.

Mad cow may be more widespread. Emma Ross, Associated Press, August 5, 2004.

Scientists warn Britain of possible \’mad cow\’ disease epidemic. Agence-France Press, August 6, 2004.

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Representative Introduces Bill to Modify Downer Animal Regulation

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Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Montana) recently introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would allow some downer cattle to enter the food supply.

Rehberg\’s Consumer and Producer Protection Act of 2004 would allow downer cattle who cannot stand or walk on their own due to physical conditions such as a broken leg or temporary paralysis to be slaughtered and processed.

The bill would change the definition of a \”non-ambulatory\” animal (emphasis added),

The term \’non-ambulatory\’ shall apply to any cattle that, at the time of examination and inspection under section 3(a), is unable to rise from a recumbent position or unable to walk for any reason, including metabolic conditions or central nervous system disorders, unless the reason for such inability is fatigue, stress, obdurator nerve paralysis, obesity, or one or more broken or fractured appendages, severed tendons or ligaments, or dislocated joints.\’

The bill is currently being considered by the House Agriculture Committee.

Source:

Rehlberg wants downer cattle redefined. Jo Dee Black, Great Falls Tribune (Montana), May 18, 2004.

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U.S. House Resolution 4121 – Consumer and Producer Protection Act of 2004 (Downer Animal Bill)

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Consumer and Producer Protection Act of 2004 (Introduced in House)

HR 4121 IH

108th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. R. 4121

To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to help ensure a healthy food supply, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 1, 2004

Mr. REHBERG (for himself and Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to help ensure a healthy food supply, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the `Consumer and Producer Protection Act of 2004\’.

SEC. 2. PREVENTION OF SLAUGHTER FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION OF CERTAIN CATTLE.

    (a) Non-Ambulatory Defined- Section 1 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

    `(w) The term `non-ambulatory\’ shall apply to any cattle that, at the time of examination and inspection under section 3(a), is unable to rise from a recumbent position or unable to walk for any reason, including metabolic conditions or central nervous system disorders, unless the reason for such inability is fatigue, stress, obdurator nerve paralysis, obesity, or one or more broken or fractured appendages, severed tendons or ligaments, or dislocated joints.\’.

    (b) Prohibition on Allowing Certain Cattle to Pass Inspection- Section 3(a) of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 603(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: `All cattle found on such inspection to be non-ambulatory, to test positive for central nervous system disorders, to exhibit signs of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (including moribund condition, tetanus, or emaciation), or to be dead prior to examination and inspection shall be found to be adulterated for purposes of section 4.\’.
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PCRM Wants Schools to Stop Serving Beef

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Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine issued a press release in February urging schools across the United States to stop serving beef. It is sending letters to the 50 biggest school districts in the United States urging them to drop beef and go vegetarian.

In the press release, PCRM\’s Jennifer Keller said,

The alarming reality is that because of lax regulations, poor enforcement, and very limited testing, the extent to which mad cow disease has entered the human food supply is unknown.

Veggie burgers, soy hot dogs, and other meatless menu choices are low in fat, high in fiber, aid children in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, and are free of prions, the infectious agent in mad cow disease and vCJD.

A healthy vegetarian menu is a win-win situation for kids and adults.

According to the press release, \”PCRM recommends that school lunch programs replace beef with soy, textured vegetable protein, and beans in menu items to assure that children in our schools have safe, healthy and tasty menu choices.\”

Apparently since there wasn\’t much hysteria over the discovery of a cow with mad cow disease in the United States, PCRM is going to do all it can to try to manufacture a little bit on its own.

Source:

PCRM calls on schools to drop beef from lunches due to mad cow threat. Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Press Release, February 10, 2004.

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Americans Show Little, If Any, Let Up In Beef Eating

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So far there doesn\’t seem to have been any appreciable rush by people in the United States to abandon beef in the wake of the discovery of a cow with Mad Cow Disease in Washington State.

A January poll conducted by IPSOS U.S. Express for the American Farm Bureau Federation found that 74 percent of Americans said their beef consumption was about the same as it was before the Dec. 23 announcement of the infected cow.

Fifteen percent said their consumption of beef was down slightly or significantly, while 7 percent said their consumption of beef was up slightly or significantly. Four percent of respondents either did not eat beef or said they did not know whether their consumption of beef had increased, decreased or remained about the same.

Certainly fast food restaurants like McDonald\’s were unfazed by the announcement. Sales at McDonald\’s increased 12.2 percent in December — the ninth month in a row of increased sales for the fast food chain that had experienced slow growth the past couple years.

Source:

Poll: U.S. Still Eating Beef Despite Mad Cow Case. Reuters, January 12, 2004.

McDonald\’s posts strong year-end sales. Dave Carpenter, Associated Press, January 27, 2004.

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