Monday, November 4, 2013

R-CALF Bullard new BSE rule represents the abrogation of USDA’s responsibility to protect U.S. consumers and the U.S. cattle herd from the introduction of foreign animal disease

New USDA Rule Designed to Help Meatpackers Break Domestic Cattle Market

 

 November 1, 2013 Washington, D.C. – Today the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced its plans to radically relax U.S. import restrictions for countries where bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or mad cow disease) continues to persist.

 

“Despite the fact that BSE persists in the European Union (EU), which reported four new BSE cases in 2013, the new USDA rule opens the door to allow U.S. meatpackers to begin supplementing tight U.S. beef supplies with beef of questionable safety from Europe,” said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard.

 

Bullard continued: “USDA cannot explain why BSE persists in Europe despite the fact that all scientific measures that are believed to be effective at breaking the BSE cycle have been rigorously enforced in Europe for nearly two decades.

 

“If you believe what USDA is telling the public – that BSE is no longer a concern in European livestock because all steps necessary to control BSE are already in place, then it is impossible for Europe to be continually detecting new BSE cases. But this is exactly what Europe continues to do as it has detected 83 new cases of BSE just since 2010.

 

“This irresponsible action by USDA underscores the need for country of origin labeling (COOL), which is presently under attack by meatpackers and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) in the federal court system, by members of Congress in the 2013 Farm Bill, and by foreign countries at the World Trade Organization (WTO).”

 

According to Bullard, COOL would provide consumers the opportunity to better safeguard their families by enabling them to avoid meat products from countries that have not controlled BSE and that cannot explain why they continue to detect the pernicious disease in their livestock.

 

Bullard said the new BSE rule represents the abrogation of USDA’s responsibility to protect U.S. consumers and the U.S. cattle herd from the introduction of foreign animal disease and it exemplifies how USDA is acquiescing to the unelected and un-appointed officials at the WTO who have no loyalties whatsoever to U.S. livestock producers or to U.S. consumers.

 

“USDA is working closely with the multinational meatpackers to open new import platforms so they can break the U.S. cattle market that has only recently reached profitable levels after being severely depressed for more than a decade. Cargill’s recent announcement that it has partnered with an Australian exporter to import grain-fed and grass-fed beef in the U.S. will now be followed by announcements to further increase price-depressing imports from Europe, thanks to USDA,” Bullard concluded.

 

# # #

 

 

 

R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) is the largest producer-only cattle trade association in the United States. It is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. For more information, visit www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516.

 

 

 


 

 

I AGREE WITH MR. BULLARD, it’s all about trade and money, BSE TSE PRION aka mad cow type disease and sound science there from, was thrown out the window by the USDA et al that fateful day in December 23, 2003, when the USDA lost it’s ‘gold card’ of supposedly being BSE FREE, (that was and still is a sad joke though), that’s when mad cow junk science was adopted by the USDA... 

 

 

see why below...kind regards, terry

 

 

Board meeting agenda: 5 November 2013

 

Food Standards Agency FSA 13/11/05

 

Open Board – 05 November 2013

 

1

 

BSE – A REPORT ON SURVEILLANCE AND ENFORCEMENT OF CONTROLS ON SPECIFIED RISK MATERIAL AND ANIMAL FEED - MARCH to AUGUST 2013

 

Report by Steve Wearne, Director of Policy

 

For further information contact Chris Walding on 0207 276 8334, email chris.walding@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk or Liz Olney on 07738 198928, email liz.olney@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk

 

SUMMARY

 

1.1. At the meeting on 11 December 2012 the FSA Board agreed to advise Ministers that it would be acceptable on grounds of negligible risk to consumers and proportionality to stop BSE testing of healthy cattle slaughtered for human consumption in the UK.1 This advice was subject to higher-risk cattle aged over 48 months continuing to be tested for BSE and the specified risk material (SRM) and feed controls remaining in force. This change in BSE testing requirements was implemented on 1 March 2013.

 

1.2. In making its decision, the Board requested a regular report on the results of BSE monitoring and enforcement of feed and SRM controls to ensure confidence in the continued effectiveness of the BSE controls.

 

1.3 The Board is asked to:

 

• Note the contents of this paper;

 

• Comment on the data presented and the action being taken by the FSA on the issues raised; and

 

• Note that results of increased monitoring will be included in the next six monthly report to the Board.

 

INTRODUCTION

 

snip...

 

DISCUSSION

 

BSE Monitoring Data

 

5.1. In the period 1 March 2013 – 31 August 2013, a total of 77,778 higher risk cattle were tested in GB with a further 17,295 tested in NI. Only two positive tests were reported, both being from fallen stock that were not destined for human consumption. Cross checks on animals slaughtered and testing data have not revealed any animals requiring testing that missed tests and entered the food chain. Two FBOs have been referred for investigation for failure to test animals that required testing. These failures were found during routine

 

Food Standards Agency FSA 13/11/05

 

Open Board – 05 November 2013

 

3

 

checks at the slaughterhouse and no untested carcases entered the food chain.

 

DEVOLUTION IMPLICATIONS

 

7.1. No specific devolved issues.

 

CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT

 

8.1. No specific consumer engagement on the issues raised in this paper is envisaged at this stage. Information on the breaches of SRM controls referred to in this paper will be published on the website when investigations are completed, in line with normal practice. The FBOs directly involved in the breaches will be identified in these reports.

 

8.2 Consumers generally, and the families of vCJD victims in particular, may be concerned about these breaches and the effectiveness of SRM controls in general in protecting human health from the potential BSE risk. They will want to be re-assured that the corrective measures that have been, and are being, taken to tighten controls on the removal of bovine vertebral column will be effective. We have described in section 5.13 above the action that has been taken, and we will include results of increased monitoring in the next six monthly report to the Board.

 

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

 

9.1. The relaxation of BSE testing controls has provided a renewed focus on SRM controls. This report identifies the need for these controls to be more effective and robust. The FSA and industry stakeholders are therefore taking action to ensure that consumer safeguards are maintained, through raised awareness, increased monitoring and supervision, and robust application of the enforcement hierarchy.

 

9.2. Ensuring strict adherence to operational requirements to verify FBO controls and with additional assurance checks and notification procedures for FBOs, the FSA is guarding against industry non-compliance with application of the enforcement hierarchy where there are non-compliances. The FSA will keep the effectiveness of the controls under review, including an assessment of the benefits of the additional controls introduced in September at slaughterhouses dispatching OTM carcases for off-site VC removal, and FSA communications to officials at receiving plants to ensure necessary supervision is in place. Results of the increased monitoring will be reported to the FSA Board in the next six monthly report.

 

Food Standards Agency FSA 13/11/05

 

Open Board – 05 November 2013

 

9

 

9.3. The Board is asked to:

 

• note the contents of this paper;

 

• comment on the data presented and the action being taken by the FSA on the issues raised; and

 

• note that results of increased monitoring will be included in the next six monthly report to the Board.

 

snip...see full text ;

 


 

 

please see ;

 

Conclusions

 

In conclusion, demonstration of transmission of the disease even with low concentrations of PrPsc [54], highlights BSE’s ability to adopt different behavior, even sometimes similar to Scrapie [55], should reinforce that vigilance is required in interpreting results so that subtle changes do not go unnoticed. Additionally, to maintain a continued supervision of the techniques which are applied in the routine diagnosis would prove essential for the ultimate eradication of the disease. A study of the actual BSE presence should be considered as necessary because a state of sporadic prevalence could exist [56] and samples without a diagnosis [57,58] could reach the food chain, involving therefore a risk for public health.

 

Keywords

 

TSEs, BSE, Confirmatory diagnosis, Non-conclusive cases

 


 

 

WOW! holy mad cows, how many more were there, and how many were consumed or put into by-products for consumption, for humans and animals ???

 

 

From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr.

 

Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2013 3:58 PM

 

To: Science.Advisory.Council@defra.gsi.gov.uk

 

Subject: Idiopathic Brainstem Neuronal Chromatolysis (IBNC): a novel prion protein related disorder of cattle?

 

Greetings Honorable Science Advisory Council et al @ DEFRA,

 

I wish to ask a question about something I have seen no updates on, that concerns me.

 

IDIOPATHIC BRAINSTEM NEURONAL CHROMATOLYSIS IBNC or what I some times call, IBNC BSE.

 

I have seen nothing in the scientific literature updated on this in years, since around 2008, then it was like it fell off the face of the earth ?

 

can you please give me some sort of update on the IBNC BSE science to date ?

 

how many cases of IBNC BSE have been detected ?

 

is there an ongoing surveillance for this the IBNC BSE, and are the BSE test even capable of detecting it ?

 

could the USA and or North America even detect, if they were even looking for it ?

 

latest studies, if any more since "All of the 15 cattle tested showed that the brains had abnormally accumulated PrP" ?

 

thank you,

 

kind regards,

 

terry

 

SNIP...see full text ;

 

MAD COW TESTING ONLY CATCHES SOME MAD COWS

 

SPREADING IT ALL AROUND

 

 

Saturday, October 19, 2013

 

***A comparative study of modified confirmatory techniques and additional immuno-based methods for non-conclusive autolytic Bovine spongiform encephalopathy cases

 


 

 

Thursday, June 6, 2013

 

FSA MORE BSE MAD COW CONTROL BREACHES JUNE 2013

 


 

 

Friday, October 25, 2013

 

UK FSA TSE BSE Board meeting agenda: 5 November 2013

 


 

 

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

 

Inspections, Compliance, Enforcement, and Criminal Investigations BSE TSE PRION 2013

 


 

 

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

 

SPECIFIED RISK MATERIAL (SRM) CONTROL VERIFICATION TASK FSIS NOTICE 70-13 10/30/13

 


 

 

Wednesday, October 09, 2013

 

WHY THE UKBSEnvCJD ONLY THEORY IS SO POPULAR IN IT'S FALLACY, £41,078,281 in compensation REVISED

 


 

 

Thursday, October 10, 2013

 

CJD REPORT 1994 increased risk for consumption of veal and venison and lamb

 


 

 

Monday, October 14, 2013

 

***Researchers estimate one in 2,000 people in the UK carry variant CJD proteins

 


 

 

Friday, August 16, 2013

 

*** Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) biannual update August 2013 U.K. and Contaminated blood products induce a highly atypical prion disease devoid of PrPres in primates

 


 

 

WHAT about the sporadic CJD TSE proteins ?

 

WE now know that some cases of sporadic CJD are linked to atypical BSE and atypical Scrapie, so why are not MORE concerned about the sporadic CJD, and all it’s sub-types $$$

 

 

Sunday, August 11, 2013

 

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease CJD cases rising North America updated report August 2013

 

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease CJD cases rising North America with Canada seeing an extreme increase of 48% between 2008 and 2010

 


 

 

Sunday, October 13, 2013

 

CJD TSE Prion Disease Cases in Texas by Year, 2003-2012

 


 

 

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

 

NORDION (US), INC., AND BIOAXONE BIOSCIENCES, INC., Settles $90M Mad Cow TSE prion Contamination Suit Cethrin(R)

 

Case 0:12-cv-60739-RNS Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 04/26/2012 Page 1 of 15

 


 

 

with great sadness and disgust, I must inform you that our federal government has failed us again, and chose the industry over sound science, with regards to TSE prion disease, aka mad cow type disease...tss

 

 

Saturday, November 2, 2013

 

APHIS Finalizes Bovine Import Regulations in Line with International Animal Health Standards while enhancing the spread of BSE TSE prion mad cow type disease around the Globe

 


 

 

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

 

APHIS USDA Administrator Message to Stakeholders: Agency Vision and Goals Eliminating ALL remaining BSE barriers to export market

 


 

 

Sunday, November 3, 2013

 

***Environmental Impact Statements; Availability, etc.: Animal Carcass Management [Docket No. APHIS-2013-0044]

 


 

 

I kindly urge the OIE to upgrade the USA BSE GBR risk facto to BSE GBR IV, for the reasons listed above. ...

 

 

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

 

World Organization for Animal Health Recommends United States' BSE Risk Status Be Upgraded

 

Statement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack:

 


 

 

2013 USA

 

 

Monday, September 02, 2013

 

Atypical BSE: role of the E211K prion polymorphism

 

Research Project: TRANSMISSION, DIFFERENTIATION, AND PATHOBIOLOGY OF TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES

 

Location: Virus and Prion Research Unit

 


 

 

Sunday, September 1, 2013

 

Evaluation of the Zoonotic Potential of Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy

 

We previously described the biochemical similarities between PrPres derived from L-BSE infected macaque and cortical MM2 sporadic CJD: those observations suggest a link between these two uncommon prion phenotypes in a primate model (it is to note that such a link has not been observed in other models less relevant from the human situation as hamsters or transgenic mice overexpressing ovine PrP [28]). We speculate that a group of related animal prion strains (L-BSE, c-BSE and TME) would have a zoonotic potential and lead to prion diseases in humans with a type 2 PrPres molecular signature (and more specifically type 2B for vCJD)

 

snip...

 

***Together with previous experiments performed in ovinized and bovinized transgenic mice and hamsters [8,9] indicating similarities between TME and L-BSE, the data support the hypothesis that L-BSE could be the origin of the TME outbreaks in North America and Europe during the mid-1900s.


 

 

kind regards, terry

 

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