“I have just been very reluctant to even set a date as to when we would bring that to a close,” Johanns said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It’s safe to say the enhanced surveillance is going to extend beyond the end of December.” The agency originally planned to scale back the testing to a maintenance level in November. The National Renderers Association and several renderers have been told the program will continue until March 31, 2006.
Cattle currently tested under the program are considered “high risk,” primarily nonambulatory cattle; cattle exhibiting signs of a central nervous system disorder; cattle exhibiting other signs that may be associated with BSE, such as emaciation or injury; and dead cattle. As of mid-November, over 522,000 cattle had been tested for BSE under the enhanced program, with only one domestic positive case reported in June 2005. A previous case reported in December 2003 was in an animal imported from Canada.
Renderers have played a significant role in the enhanced surveillance testing, collecting a large percentage of samples.
December 2005 Render