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Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said at a press conference
Friday afternoon that while USDA is fairly certain of the
herd from which the recently confirmed case of bovine spongiform
encephalopathy was born, DNA testing is underway to make
a definite identification.
Johanns did not offer a timetable for when further information
about the animal's origins would be available.
Sharp criticism
USDA came under a flurry of criticism following the announcement
Friday of the United States' first native-born case of BSE
(see Johanns announces positive BSE
test results, the Daily News, June 24, 2005), even from
beef industry officials who are normally supportive. With
the confirmation came a flurry of questions from the press,
some beef producers and politicians of both parties regarding
USDA's handling of the BSE situation.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said in a written statement that
the announcement brings into question whether USDA ever
had a scientifically valid procedure for testing, and Rep.
Rose DeLauro, R-Conn., said that the finding "confirmed
today that the U.S. is not doing everything in its power
to prevent this disease and ensure the integrity of our
cattle and food supply. That the USDA's Inspector General
had to call for a second round of tests on this animal after
it had tested negative raises serious questions about the
oversight in the country."
During the press conference, reporters pressed Johanns as
to why the Western blot test was not performed after conflicting
results from the Bio-Rad rapid screening test and the immunohistochemistry
test, as is standard in Europe and elsewhere and which is
recommended by the OIE. His reply, that the IHC had been
the gold standard at the time the protocols were established
under former Ag Secretary Ann Venneman, but that science
had advanced, somewhat contradicted USDA's earlier vehement
defense of its testing regime prior to the IG ordering a
confirmatory test.
During a press conference immediately following the USDA
presentation, officials at the National Cattlemen's Beef
Association revealed that the organization had previously
written to USDA asking for an explanation of its protocols,
but never received a reply. While contending that the U.S.
beef supply is safe, NCBA faced some hostile questions vis-a-vis
USDA's inability to say where the infected animal was discovered,
where it was born and where it was raised. One reporter
questioned why the agency hadn't made more progress in tracing
the animal during the two week span in which samples were
being tested at the OIE BSE laboratory in Weybridge, England.
Another asked why, with all the publicity given to traceability
and the government's plans for a national animal identification
system, authorities have not been able to trace this animal's
origins some eight months after it was discovered.
Shoring up trade
Although there was no immediate comment from the United
States' overseas trading partners, Johanns contended that
sending the samples to a third party should help assure
trading partners, meaning Japan and South Korea, of the
transparency and integrity of U.S. detection, prevention
and testing protocols.
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