The cow was first tested on November 19, 2004, as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) enhanced BSE surveillance program after being selected because it was a downer, or non-ambulatory, animal. The initial screening test was inconclusive, triggering USDA to conduct the internationally accepted confirmatory immunohistochemistry (IHC) tests. Those results were negative. However, in early June 2005, the USDA’s Office of the Inspector General recommended further testing of the seven-month-old sample using another internationally recognized confirmatory test, the Western blot, which produced a reactive result. USDA then sent the sample from the animal to The Veterinary Laboratories Agency in Weybridge, England, where it was confirmed positive for BSE. As a downer cow, the animal was prohibited from entering the human or animal feed chain and was disposed of by incineration.
The situation prompted USDA to immediately change their testing program. If any BSE rapid screening test results in an inconclusive finding, the agency will run both an IHC and Western blot confirmatory test. If results from either confirmatory test are positive, the sample will be considered positive for BSE.
An epidemiological investigation of the second case resulted in the identification of the animal’s source herd. Consistent with World Organization for Animal Health, or OIE, guidelines, USDA will test any other animals that were born the same year as this animal, as well as any born the year before and the year after. USDA may expand their inquiry to include all animals in the herd born before the ruminant-to-ruminant feed ban went into place in 1997. The agency is also interested in any of the infected animal’s offspring that were born within the last two years.
USDA is also working with the Food and Drug Administration in an effort to determine the feed history of the herd. Given the animal’s age, the agency believes it was most likely infected by consuming feed prior to the implementation of the feed ban in 1997.
Animal ID Program Proposed
In May 2005, the USDA unveiled a draft strategic plan for the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) and asked for feedback from agriculture producers, leaders, and industry partners. The deadline for comments to the plan was July 6, 2005, with over 500 comments received by that date and dozens more continuing to pour in afterwards.
Administered by USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the NAIS is a cooperative state-federal-industry program being created to track animal movements from birth to death for the purpose of disease tracking. It will be established over time, with anticipation of requiring full recording of animal movements by January 2009, through the integration of three key components: premises identification; animal identification; and animal tracking. APHIS received approximately $33 million for NAIS implementation in fiscal year 2005 through the Consolidated Appropriations Act. USDA transferred $18.8 million from its Commodity Credit Corporation to APHIS in fiscal year 2004 to support the program. USDA is also making available $14.3 million to state and tribal cooperators to continue registering premises for NAIS.
The National Renderers Association (NRA) submitted official comments supporting regulations on the identification and tracking of livestock to facilitate disease surveillance and control. NRA believes that all dead and downer animals should be processed via federally licensed, permitted, and regulated methods, but argues that if renderers are required to track the identity of deadstock collected and transported to rendering facilities, then producers should be responsible for applying appropriate identification on the animals before they leave the production premises.
One concern of NRA’s is that the NAIS does not address animal identification beyond death unless it occurs in a federally inspected slaughter facility.
“Individual identification devices approved for use on cattle and other animals should facilitate information and tracking required of renderers,” NRA stated. “If such devices are removed from animals upon death, some other form of identification should be attached to the dead animals.
“A number of states have already required that renderers register for premises ID numbers,” the comments continue. “These states have assumed that the AIN [animal identification number] will remain with the animal until it is either slaughtered for meat or it dies and [is] rendered. Trucks often pick up deadstock from multiple farms, and it is not reasonable to expect route drivers to apply the required individual animal identification devices.”
NRA emphasized that renderers are an essential component of the animal disease control and public health infrastructure and are eager to do their part. The industry wants to ensure that the NAIS considers animal identification through all the channels of commerce to make the system work smoothly and efficiently.
More information on the NAIS can be found on the Web at www.usda.gov/nais.
Cattlemen Plan to ID Sooner
Meanwhile, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) has selected a team led by BearingPoint, Inc., as a lead technology consultant for its voluntary, industry-based, multi-species animal identification program that was created as a result of a member-developed policy and a desire to protect producer rights and confidentiality.
“While federal and state animal health authorities will be able to access relevant parts of this database to trace back in the event of a disease outbreak or animal health-related incident, the data will remain the property of the individual and stored with a multi-species consortium to maintain confidentiality,” NCBA stated in a press release. Although NCBA agrees that the system must meet the government’s needs for trace back within 48 hours, they do not feel the program should be government-operated. Instead, NCBA proposes to turn governance of the program over to a multi-species consortium that can better reflect the needs and views of livestock producers. The consortium is expected to include representatives from all affected animal industries.
One of the top priorities of the NCBA Animal Identification Commission in charge of developing the program is to expedite the timeline of implementation. The BearingPoint team is expected to Beta test the system by October 2005, and have it fully operational by January 1, 2006. For more information on NCBA’s efforts, log onto www.beefusa.org/AnimalID.aspx.
Newsline - August 2005 Render