Aug. 30, 2005 — Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) guiding principles for development of a public/private partnership that enables the private sector to maintain animal movement data as part of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS).
“We are gratified by the growing support for an animal identification (ID) system, with over 100,000 premises now registered,” Johanns said. “We are eager to work closely with industry as they develop and maintain databases that contain animal movement information. After hearing the confidentiality concerns of producers, we envision a system that allows these databases to feed a single, privately held animal-tracking repository that we can access.”
USDA’s four guiding principles for the NAIS are as follows:
• The system must be able to allow tracking of animals from point of origin to processing within 48 hours without unnecessary burden to producers and other stakeholders.
• The system’s architecture must be developed without unduly increasing the size and role of government.
• The system must be flexible enough to utilize existing technologies and incorporate new identification technologies as they are developed.
• Animal movement data should be maintained in a private system that can be readily accessed when necessary by state and federal animal health authorities.
USDA solicited public input on NAIS through a variety of means, including the formation of a special subcommittee under the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Foreign Animal and Poultry Diseases, a series of listening sessions across the country in 2004, and a thinking paper published for public comment in May 2005. Public response indicates there is widespread support for a system to rapidly trace potentially exposed animals in the event of an animal disease outbreak. A majority of producers who responded also favored a system that allows the animal movement data to be privately held.
USDA officials will be scheduling a stakeholder meeting this fall to clarify expectations for the private tracking system and discuss user requirements and system specifications.
Once fully implemented, NAIS will enhance U.S. efforts to respond to intentionally or unintentionally introduced animal disease outbreaks more quickly and effectively. More information about NAIS is available at www.usda.gov/nais.
Investigation of BSE-Infected Texas Cow Concludes, Results Announced
Aug. 30, 2005 — The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have completed their investigations regarding a cow that tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in June 2005. The agencies conducted these investigations in collaboration with the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) and the Texas Feed and Fertilizer Control Service (FFCS).
The results indicate that the positive animal, called the index animal, was born and raised on a ranch (termed the “index farm”) in Texas. It was a cream-colored Brahman cross, approximately 12 years old at the time of its death. It was born prior to the implementation of the 1997 feed ban instituted by FDA to help minimize the risk that a cow might consume feed contaminated with the agent thought to cause BSE. The animal was sold through a livestock sale in November 2004 and transported to a packing plant. The animal was dead upon arrival at the packing plant and was then shipped to a pet food plant where it was sampled for BSE. The plant did not use the animal in its product, and the carcass was destroyed in November 2004.
APHIS attempted to trace all adult animals that left the index farm after 1990, as well as all progeny born within two years of the index animal’s death. Together, these animals are called animals of interest.
During the course of the investigation, USDA removed and tested a total of 67 animals of interest from the farm where the index animal’s herd originated. All of these animals tested negative for BSE. Two hundred adult animals of interest were determined to have left the index farm. Of these 200, APHIS officials determined that 143 had gone to harvest, two were found alive (one was determined not to be of interest because of its age and the other tested negative), 34 are presumed dead, one is known dead and 20 have been classified as untraceable. In addition to the adult animals, APHIS was looking for two calves born to the index animal. Due to recordkeeping and identification issues, APHIS had to trace 213 calves. Of these 213 calves, 208 entered feeding and harvest channels, four are presumed to have entered feeding and harvest channels and one calf was untraceable.
To determine whether contaminated feed could have played a role in the index animal’s infection, FDA and the Texas FFCS conducted a feed investigation with two main objectives: 1) to identify all protein sources in the animal’s feed history that could potentially have been the source of the BSE agent, and 2) to verify that cattle leaving the herd after 1997 were identified by USDA as animals of interest and were rendered in compliance with the 1997 BSE/ruminant feed rule.
The feed history investigation identified 21 feeds or feed supplements that were used on the farm since 1990. These feed ingredients were purchased from three retail feed stores and were manufactured at nine feed mills. This investigation found that no feed or feed supplements used on the farm since 1997 were formulated to contain prohibited mammalian protein. Due to this finding, FDA has concluded that the animal was most likely infected prior to the 1997 BSE/ruminant feed rule.
The investigation into the disposition of herdmates from this farm involved visits to nine harvesting plants and eight rendering plants. The investigation found that all of the rendering plants were operating in compliance with the BSE/ruminant feed rule. A review of the inspection history of each of these rendering firms found no violations of the FDA feed ban rule.
APHIS and FDA are very pleased with the results of their investigations, which show the animals of interest did not present a threat to livestock and that the ruminant feed rule is being followed. The U.S. maintains an interlocking system of safeguards designed to prevent BSE from entering the human and animal food chains. USDA also remains vigilant in its attempt to find BSE in the United States. To date, there have been more than 450,000 animals tested in the last 14 months, and only two BSE-positive animals found in this country.
For more information on USDA’s epidemiological investigation and a copy of the report, visit the APHIS Web site at www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/bse/bse.html.
For more information on FDA’s feed investigation, visit the FDA’s Web site at www.fda.gov/cvm/texasfeedrpt.htm.
— Information provided by USDA.
|
You have the right to unsubscribe at any time. To do so, send an e-mail to listmaster@angusjournal.com. Upon receipt of your request to unsubscribe, we will immediately remove your e-mail address from the list. If you have any questions about the service or if you'd like to submit potential For an archive of Angus e-Lists visit www.anguselist.com API Web Services |