Surveillance Working in BSE Detection

  PIERRE (June 25, 2005)—The president of the South Dakota Beef Industry Council (SDBIC) says that tests recently confirming a  positive case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, also known as mad cow disease) ensures consumers that the surveillance system put into place by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is doing its job.

            “Our surveillance system is working,” says Nancy Montross, a DeSmet, S.D. beef producer and president of the state organization that collects the $1-per-head checkoff on all beef animals in South Dakota .

“Since June 2004 we’ve tested more than 388,000 samples of high-risk animals and we’ve had confirmation of just this one case—and this animal never entered the human or animal feed supply,” explains Montross. “Consumers can be assured that their beef supply is safe.”

USDA recently announced the test results on an older animal born before a specific feed ban was put in place back in 1997 to protect against the transmission of BSE in cattle. The highly sensitive rapid screening test used for BSE surveillance first identified this sample as a potential case in November 2004.

However, another confirmatory test—immunohistochemistry (IHC)—determined the sample was negative. The USDA’s Office of Inspector General, as part of its review of USDA’s enhanced BSE surveillance system, decided in June that USDA should retest the sample. The Western Blot test was used for the retest and detected indications of BSE. Confirmation was provided by a laboratory in England .

            “The USDA and the beef industry understand how extremely important it is to ensure that the beef we eat is safe,” says Montross. “It continues to be our top priority. This system of testing and keeping high risk animals from the food supply is working.”

Both the IHC and Western blot are recognized by the World Animal Health Organization as BSE confirmatory tests. Effective immediately, USDA will run both the IHC and Western Blot as confirmatory tests.

Montross says it’s critical that consumers understand the following:

•  The animal did not enter the human food or animal feed supply.
•  Scientists, medical professionals and government officials agree that BSE is not a public health risk in the United States . USDA mandates removal of material that could potentially carry BSE from the food supply. BSE infectivity has not been found in milk or beef, such as steaks, roasts and ground beef.
• BSE is not contagious. Scientists believe it can be spread only through feeding practices banned in the United States since 1997.

Montross adds that the aggressive steps by the U.S. government and cattle industry during the past 15 years give her confidence that the prevalence of BSE in the U.S. is extremely low.  She also advises consumers or producers wanting additional science-based, credible information about BSE or BSE testing to visit www.BSEInfo.org.