I think the following article may give some further indication of the scope of the BSE problem. Notice that they now have detected the disease having spread to cats and potentially other pets. Also, notice the reference to violations by USA animal feed producers -- it is only a matter of time before this begins in the USA if something isn't done sooner than yesterday!! Also, the quantity of destroyed animals is staggering. If some SAFE use could be found for these carcasses such as biodiesel, this would certainly go a long way to alleviate some of this waste.
Derek ----- Original Message ----- From: "ProMED-mail" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2001 7:54 PM Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> BSE Update (01) Jan 2000 > > BSE UPDATE (01) Jan 2001 > ********************** > A ProMED-mail post > <http://www.promedmail.org> > ProMED-mail is a program of the > International Society for Infectious Diseases > <http://www.isid.org> > > [see also: > BSE updates: 31 Dec 2000 20010101.0003] > > [1] > Date: Thu 11 Jan 2001 16:15:47 -0500 > From: ProMED-mail <promedmail.org> > Source: AP newswires 9 Jan 2001 [translated by Mod.MPP] [edited] > > > 14 Suspect Cases of Mad Cow Disease in Belgium > -------------------------------------------------------------- > BRUSSELS: Belgian Health officials have identified at least 14 suspect > cases of mad cow disease. These discoveries were made during the > first week of systematic examinations of cattle in the country, > the Ministry of Health said today. > > Another suspected case [of BSE] was reported in the north of Denmark, said > the Danish Authorities. > > The French Ministry of Agriculture stated that approximately 20 000 tests a > week are being conducted, with 19 laboratories taking part and an > additional 40 [laboratories] expected to join in the effort. [The MOA > officials] did not give figures on the results of the exams. Obligatory > testing of cattle older than 30 [months] was decreed by the Ministers of > Agriculture of the European Union as part of the effort to reduce fears > related to the spread of [BSE]. No animal will be permitted to enter the > food chain until it has been tested for BSE. > > The suspect cases of BSE in Belgium were sacrificed and the farms from > which they came have been closed. > > ****** > [2] > Date: Fri 12 Jan 2001 20:09:46 +0100 > From: Chris Griot <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Source: BBC World Service - Fri 12 Jan 2001, 12:19 GMT [edited] > > > Germany to Slaughter BSE Cattle > --------------------------------------- > German officials say the government is about to introduce the compulsory > slaughter of cattle to try to eradicate mad cow disease, or BSE. It's not > yet clear whether only herds already affected will be destroyed, or whether > all cattle considered to be at risk will be slaughtered. > > Officials say the new measures would replace the current system under which > each German state decides its own policy on culling herds. The > developments coincide with demonstrations by German farmers, who want > government help with hundreds of thousands of unsold cattle. > > ****** > [3] > Date: Sat 13 Jan 2001, 20:06 GMT > From: ProMED-mail <promedmail.org> > Source: BBC [Edited] > > > Italy Fears First BSE case > --------------------------- > The Italian Health Ministry said it had detected the country's first > suspected case of BSE, or mad cow disease, in Italian cattle on > Saturday. > > The suspect cow, from a farm near Brescia in the northern Italian region of > Lombardy, was slaughtered only 2 days ago and the animal had shown none of > the symptoms of the disease before it was sent to the > slaughterhouse. Samples of tissue from the animal are now being sent to > another laboratory in Turin for further analysis. Final confirmation of > whether Italy has joined the EU countries afflicted by BSE will only be > available on Tuesday. > > The Italian Government ordered compulsory testing for bovine spongiform > encephalopathy (BSE) in cows over the age of 30 months last November [2000] > in line with tough new European Union regulations. > > Italian Health Minister Umberto Veronesi reassured consumers there was no > threat to public health. He told a news conference: "We are not 100% sure, > and even if it was the case, it would be the first time an Italian-born cow > had contracted the disease." > > Italy discovered 2 cases of BSE in cattle imported from Britain in > 1994. Until now, Italy had been one of the few countries in Europe not to > have reported any home-grown cases. Approximately 600 tests were carried > out in 2 government laboratories in the north of Italy, where most of the > country's dairy farms are located. All test results were negative. > > [Some years ago my friend and colleague Roger Eddy informed me that one of > his farmer clients had imported an Italian heifer which Roger later > diagnosed with BSE; it was confirmed. So I have suspected for some time > that Italy was going to join the EU BSE-surprised club. - Mod.MHJ] > > ****** > [4] > Date: Thu 11 Jan 2001 15:29:20 -0500 > From: ProMED-mail <promedmail.org> > Source: Reuters Weds 10 Jan 2001 5:36 PM ET [edited] > > > MADRID: Bull breeders and veterinarians urged the government on Wednesday > to begin testing fighting bulls, Spain's national symbol, for BSE. They > want to ensure that meat from bulls killed in the ring -- prized as a > delicacy by some Spaniards -- has not been tainted by the brain-wasting > disorder which is linked to the deadly human equivalent, new variant > Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). > > "We will not put bull meat on the market which has not been tested," Juan > Pablo Jimenez Pasquau, president of the Union of Fighting Bull Breeders, > told Reuters. More than 4000 bulls are killed in bullfights in Spain each > year and they are all sold to the public as meat, he said. Untested > beef is eligible for a "purchase for destruction" scheme, under which > farmers are paid to have older cattle destroyed if no tests are available. > > Bull fighting associations want compensation payments of around 60 000 > pesetas (US$340) for each bull incinerated, and they plan to meet with the > Agriculture Ministry next week to discuss their concerns. > > [Considering the effects of this disease, it is somewhat hard to imagine a > clinically affected animal performing lethally in an arena. One must > presume that the Spanish authorities are concerned with apparently healthy > preclinical bulls. - Mod.MHJ] > > ****** > [5] > Date: Fri 12 Jan 2001 15:22:41 -0500 > From: ProMED-mail <promedmail.org> > Source: M2 Communications Ltd. [edited] > > > British research has confirmed a total of 87 cases of mad cow disease in > cats in the 1990s. > > To reassure Finnish pet owners, it has been pointed out that British beef > is not used in Finnish cat food. It is not known how many pets in the > other European countries have been found to have the disease, but according > to Nina Saren at the Finnish ministry of agriculture and forestry, there > have been several cases. [However, only Britain has had a relatively active > surveillance programme for FSE. - Mod.MHJ] > > The disease has also been confirmed in felines in zoos, Saren said. In > Finland, there have not been any confirmed or suspected cases of BSE > in animals at the Korkeasaari zoo in Helsinki, reported Helsingin Sanomat, > a Finnish daily newspaper. > > In Norway, [one] cat has reportedly contracted the disease after eating > British beef, but in Finland the risk is said to be close to > nonexistent. VPG Finland, Master Foods Oy and Friskies Finland Oy, 3 major > pet food manufacturers, have said that in Finland the meat used for pet > food comes from the same animals as the meat for human consumption. > > [This is not to say that FSE is absent from Europe. When the disease did > not taper off as expected in the UK, it was found that British cat food > manufacturers were using imported miscellaneous beef scraps from the > Continent. As ever, if you don't have clinical veterinarians and pathology > facilities actively looking for a condition, the threshold number of cases > needed for a diagnosis (NND) gets to be large. - Mod.MHJ] > > ****** > [6] > Date: Thu 11 Jan 2001 14:40:41 -0500 > From: ProMED-mail <promedmail.org> > Source: AP Online 11 Jan 2001 14:24 [edited] > > > WASHINGTON: Hundreds of animal feed producers are violating rules intended > to keep mad cow disease out of the United States, prompting the government > to warn on Thursday that companies must shape up or expect shutdowns, even > prosecution. The food supply remains safe despite the violations because > no cases of mad cow disease have been found in U.S. cattle, the Food and > Drug Administration said. [This last statement is debatable. - Mod.JW] > > The livestock industry in 1996 voluntarily banned sheep and certain other > animal parts from U.S. feed. The next year, the FDA formally banned any > proteins from cows, sheep, goats, deer or elk -- animals that get similar > brain-wasting diseases -- from feed for cows, sheep or goats. Poultry or > pigs can still eat those proteins, but feed must be labeled "do not feed to > cows or other ruminants" and companies must have systems to prevent > accidentally mixing up the feeds. > > Of 180 renderers -- companies that turn slaughtered animals' parts into > meat and bone meal -- that handle risky feed, 16 percent lacked warning > labels and, worse, 28 percent had no system to prevent feed mixups. > > Of 347 FDA-licensed feed mills that handle risky feed, 20 percent lacked > warning labels and 9 percent lacked mixup-prevention systems. > > Of 1593 unlicensed feed mills that handle risky feed, almost half lacked > warning labels and 26 percent lacked mixup-prevention systems. (FDA only > licenses mills that add medications to feed.) > > States are helping FDA inspect the companies, and hundreds are left to > inspect. But [Dr. Stephen Sundlof, Director of the FDA's Centers for > Veterinary Medicine,] pledged Thursday that every company will be inspected. > > The American Feed Industry Association said it supported the FDA's > enforcement of the rules, saying most companies inspected so far are complying. > > [Byline: Lauran Neergaard, AP] > > [I need not remind members that absence of reports is not the same as a > true absence of disease. - Mod.MHJ] > > -- > ProMED-mail > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > .................mhj/mpp/es/jw/pg/jw > *##########################################################* > ProMED-mail makes every effort to verify the reports that > are posted, but the accuracy and completeness of the > information, and of any statements or opinions based > thereon, are not guaranteed. The reader assumes all risks in > using information posted or archived by ProMED-mail. ISID > and its associated service providers shall not be held > responsible for errors or omissions or held liable for any > damages incurred as a result of use or reliance upon posted > or archived material. > ************************************************************ > Visit ProMED-mail's web site at <http://www.promedmail.org>. > Send all items for posting to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > (NOT to an individual moderator). If you do not give your > full name and affiliation, it may not be posted. Send > commands to subscribe/unsubscribe, get archives, help, > etc. to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For assistance from a > human being send mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ############################################################ > ############################################################ Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
