| June
8, 2004
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS) today announced a toll-free number
to report high-risk cattle in the United States. The toll-free
number for the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) surveillance
program is 1-866-536-7593.
As
part of its expanded BSE surveillance effort, APHIS will
work closely with cattle producers, renderers, veterinarians,
and others to obtain samples from high-risk cattle targeted
in this program. Toll-free callers reporting high-risk cattle
will connect with a local APHIS office that will provide
additional information. USDA will help defray costs incurred
by industries participating in the surveillance program
for such items as transportation, disposal and storage,
and tested carcasses.
APHIS'
enhanced BSE surveillance effort aims to test as many high-risk
cattle as possible within the next 12-18 months. High-risk
animals include:
- Non-ambulatory
cattle;
- Cattle
exhibiting signs of a central nervous system disorder;
- Cattle
exhibiting other signs that can be associated with BSE,
such as emaciation or injury; and
- Dead
cattle.
Under
this enhanced program, sampling approximately 268,000 animals
would detect BSE at a rate of 1 positive in 10 million adult
cattle with a 99 percent confidence level.
Additional
information about the BSE surveillance plan is at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/bseenhan_surv/bse-enh_surv.html.
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