A private veterinarian euthanized and sampled the animal before it was buried on the farm. The cow, initially reported to be a Santa Gertrudis and later determined to be a red crossbred, was confirmed through dentition to be at least 10 years old. This means the animal was born prior to the implementation of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) 1997 feed ban put in place as a safeguard to prevent the possible spread of BSE.
APHIS is currently conducting an epidemiological investigation into the animal’s origin in an attempt to trace the animal to its birth. It had been on the Alabama farm less than a year. As of March 23, federal agriculture officials had located a six-week-old calf belonging to the BSE positive animal and had learned that in early 2005 the positive cow had given birth to a black bull calf. Investigators were in the process of locating that animal and all animals born in the same herd within one year of the affected animal. They will also work with FDA officials to determine any feed history that may be relevant to the investigation.
“Experience worldwide has shown us that it is highly unusual to find BSE in more than one animal in a herd or in an affected animal’s offspring,” stated USDA Chief Veterinary Officer John Clifford. “Nevertheless, all animals of interest will be tested for BSE.
“By any measure, the incidence of BSE in this country is extremely low,” Clifford continued. “Our enhanced surveillance program was designed as a one-time snapshot to provide information about the level of prevalence of BSE in the United States.”
USDA has conducted BSE surveillance since 1990 and ramped-up its program following the country’s first positive in December 2003 in a cow imported from Canada. Since June 2004, more than 650,000 high-risk animals and more than 20,000 clinically normal, older animals have been tested as part of the enhanced surveillance program.
Despite this latest find, BSE cases worldwide are on the decline, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, dropping at a rate of some 50 percent a year over the past three years.
In 2005, just 474 cases of BSE were reported around the world, compared with 878 in 2004 and 1,646 in 2003, and against a peak of several tens of thousands in 1992, according to figures collected by the World Organization for Animal Health, or OIE. Only five human deaths resulting from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, believed to be the human form of BSE, were reported worldwide in 2005. All of them were in the United Kingdom – the country most affected by BSE – where nine deaths were registered in 2004 and 18 in 2003.
“It is quite clear that BSE is declining and that the measures introduced to stop the disease are effective,” commented Andrew Speedy, an FAO animal production expert. “But further success depends on our continuing to apply those measures worldwide.” FAO insists on the importance of a scientific approach to detect and control the disease. Also vital, said Speedy, is a tracking system that allows animals to be identified “from birth to shopping basket.”
Ag Groups Oppose Merger
The Nebraska Cattlemen and the Nebraska Farm Bureau, along with other livestock-related businesses, are protesting the proposed acquisition of National By-Products, LLC, by Darling International, Inc. (see “Newsline” in the February 2006 Render). The groups contend that because the two are the only major rendering companies providing services in the eastern Nebraska/western Iowa market, the acquisition would effectively eliminate competition in the region in violation of anti-trust laws. The farm organizations and others have signed onto a letter to the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice voicing their opposition to the acquisition.
Rob Robertson, Nebraska Farm Bureau vice president/governmental relations, said in a news report that rendering firms are a key component of the livestock industry, providing a service in properly handling the disposal of dead animals.
“But when you have only one rendering company, you have to accept the service fee they charge,” Robertson is quoted. “If Darling is allowed to acquire National By-Products, Darling will have a monopoly in this market. There will be no competition or potential competition to keep Darling’s prices at competitive levels.” But pricing isn’t the group’s only concern.
“If Darling were to elect not to do business with a processing plant that produces inedible animal by-products in this market for some reason, that plant would have no way to dispose of its inedible by-products and would have to shut down.”
Newsline - April 2006 Render