A single Holstein on a Washington state farm has tested positive for mad cow disease, marking the disease’s first suspected appearance in the United States, the Bush administration announced Tuesday as it assured Americans their food is safe.
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said the slaughtered cow was screened earlier this month and any diseased parts were removed before they could enter the food supply and infect humans.
The animal’s brain, central nervous system and related tissues did not enter the U.S. meat supply because they were sent to a rendering plant, the USDA said.
Late Tuesday, an USDA official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters that a voluntary recall of beef products that may contain parts of the infected animal could be announced as early as Wednesday.
A dairy farm near the south central Washington town of Mabton, 40 miles southeast of Yakima, was under quarantine Tuesday after federal officials received preliminary test results indicating an animal had mad cow disease.
“We are taking all necessary steps to assure the protection of the health and safety of our citizens and our state’s livestock industry,” Gov. Gary Locke said.
Canada, battered by sanctions over its own mad cow discovery, said after the report of the first U.S. mad cow case it will not ban U.S. beef for now and urged other nations to use “established science” before imposing sanctions.
Canadian officials might take additional steps when the results are in on testing of the case in Washington state, and said there was no indication that the animal or meat produced from it had any connection to Canada.
“Canada, having gone through this particular circumstance ourselves, we have been advocating all countries take appropriate action based on established science,” chief veterinary officer Brian Evans told reporters.
Evans said he expected the results of additional testing on the suspect U.S. cow to be released on Thursday.
Among those urging Ottawa not to close the border too quickly was the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association.
“I don’t want any country to go through what we’ve gone through, and we will help and support their industry in any way,” president Neil Jahnke said.
Japan quickly issued a temporary ban on imports of beef products from the United States, officials at the Agriculture Ministry in Tokyo said Wednesday. In Seoul, South Korea, the government halted customs inspection of U.S. beef, a move that effectively keeps U.S. beef from reaching its domestic market.
left“We remain confident in the safety of our food supply,” Veneman told a hastily convened news conference. The farm near Yakima, Wash., where the cow originated, has been quarantined as officials trace how the animal contracted the disease and where its meat went.
“Even though the risk to human health is minimal, we will take all appropriate actions out of an abundance of caution,” she said.
Background
Mad cow disease, known also as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, eats holes in the brains of cattle. It sprang up in Britain in 1986 and spread through countries in Europe and Asia, prompting massive destruction of herds and decimating the European beef industry.
Wary of the potential economic impact on their American market, beef producers quickly sought Tuesday to reassure consumers that infected meat wouldn’t reach their tables. “There is no risk to consumers based upon the product that came from this animal,” said Terry Stokes, chief executive of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Veneman also assured Americans the screening system worked, and no foul play was suspected. “This incident is not terrorist-related,” she said. “I cannot stress this point strongly enough.”
President Bush was briefed a few times on the development Tuesday and was confident Veneman’s department was handling the matter properly, the White House said.
With an election year approaching, the news concerned some in Congress. Rep. Tim Holden, D-Pa., a member of the House Agriculture Committee, said he expected lawmakers to hold hearings when they return to Washington in late January.
“We’re going to look into this and see the possibility of how this happened,” Holden said. “I’m sure there will be extensive oversight hearings to see what we can do to assure the American people the safety of the food chain.”
Economic impact?
Lawmakers are keenly aware that a case of mad cow disease in Canada last May — which officials described as a single, isolated incident — still had devastating economic consequences.
“If it’s anything like what happened in Canada, it will be bad. The problem won’t be that people will stop eating meat in the United States; the problem is the exports will be shut down like we did with Canada,” said Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn.
Veneman said the Holstein, which could not move on its own, tested preliminarily positive for the brain-wasting illness on Dec. 9.
Parts of the cow that would be infected — the brain, the spinal cord and the lower part of the small intestine — were removed before the animal went to a meat processing plant.
Samples from the cow have been sent to Britain for confirmation of the preliminary mad cow finding, Veneman said. The results will be known in three to five days. Veneman said consumers can get daily updates by reading the department’s Web site or by calling 1-866-4USDACOM.
Confidence, concern
She said tests are made of all downed cows — old cows that are not mobile — that are sent to slaughterhouses.
“I blame it on greed, greed, greed,” Ackerman said. “The greed of the industry, the greed of the lobbyists and the greed of the members of Congress.”
Veneman said the Agriculture Department has had safeguards in place since 1990 to check for mad cow disease and 20,526 cows had been tested in 2003 in the United States.
“This is a clear indication that our surveillance and detection program is working,” Veneman said.
U.S. beef remains “absolutely safe to eat,” she said. “We see no reason for people to alter their eating habits,” she said. “I plan to serve beef for my Christmas dinner.”