October 13, 2000

U.S. Risk of Mad Cow 'Extremely Low,' C.A.S.T. Report Says

by Joshua Lipsky

The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology has released a new report that characterizes the overall risk in the U.S. for the occurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or “mad cow” disease, as extremely low. C.A.S.T. summarized the latest information and disease statistics in its new report on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, a unique group of fatal diseases that can affect the nervous systems of animals and humans worldwide.

Even though BSE has caused a major cattle epidemic in Great Britain and has been identified in nine other European countries, no cases have been reported in the United States.

“BSE can be prevented and controlled of the disease and the lack of live-animal diagnostic tests,” said William D. Hueston, the report's co-chairman, who is affiliated with the Virginia/Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. “The cardinal point in BSE control is the willingness of veterinarians and renderers and members of the cattle industry and animal feed companies to implement and carry out measures such as disease surveillance and feed bans. The goal is to prevent BSE from ever entering the United States.

”Since May 1990, the Agriculture Department has been in involved in a BSE surveillance program to ensure detection and swift response in the event that BSE would be introduced in the United States. Several other government agencies are involved in the surveillance program, and more than 250 federal and state regulatory veterinarians are trained to diagnose BSE.

“The next few years should bring further knowledge on BSE and allow assessment of the effectiveness of public health measures established to prevent human exposure to BSE,” said James L. Voss, report co-chair from the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University, Ft. Collins.

According to the report, other TSE diseases do occur in the United States, including classical Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, scrapie in sheep and goats, chronic wasting disease in deer and elk, and transmissible mink encephalopathy. Government animal and public health agencies continue to conduct education efforts, as well as specific control programs for these diseases.

To view the complete report, log onto cast-science.org.

This article reprinted with permission from Meat Marketing and Technology Magazine.

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