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The latest BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) scare in the United States has turned out to be a false alarm.
Despite the "non-definitive" initial results from an aged cow that died on a remote farm, further testing conducted at USDA's veterinary lab in Ames, Iowa, and at the veterinary laboratories in Weybridge, England, showed the animal was not infected with BSE.
According to John Clifford, deputy administrator of USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the initial "non-definitive" test was caused by artificial or untrue staining. While this staining did not resemble BSE, Clifford said USDA felt it was prudent to conduct the additional tests.
"Needless to say, we are very pleased with the results," Clifford said. "I do want to emphasize the most important protections for human and animal health are our interlocking food safety protocols. Our enhanced surveillance program is designed to provide information about the level of prevalence of BSE in the United States, which by any measure is extremely low."
So how are consumers handling the recent spate of BSE news?
Pretty well, according to a National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) survey. The online meat industry news source, meating place.com, reports that the NCBA consumer tracking survey, conducted June 27-29 (after news of the discovery of the first native-born case of BSE in the United States) found that while 81 percent of consumers were aware of BSE and the latest case, 92 percent still felt confident that beef was safe from the disease. Ninety percent said that USDA is doing a good job of protecting the public from the disease, and 89 percent said that it was doing a good job of protecting cattle from the disease.
Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs will visit with agricultural producers and rural communities at town hall meetings throughout the state to discuss issues impacting rural Texas and the agriculture industry. Town hall meetings scheduled include:
• Friday, Sept. 9: Childress County, 8 a.m., Fair Park Auditorium, Childress; Wichita County, 12:30 p.m., Multi-Purpose Events Center, Wichita Falls; and Taylor County, 2:45 p.m., Taylor County Expo Center, Abilene.
• Monday, Sept. 12: Titus County, 8 a.m., Mount Pleasant Civic Center, Mount Pleasant; Gregg County, 10:15 a.m., Maude Cobb Convention Center, Longview; Henderson County, 12:30 p.m., Cain Center, Athens; and Nacogdoches County, 3 p.m., Nacog-doches City Hall, Nacogdoches.
• Tuesday, Sept. 13: Cameron County, 8 a.m., Rio Grande Valley Museum, Harlingen;Webb County, 10:45 a.m., Laredo Development Foundation, Laredo; Val Verde County, 1:30 p.m., Del Rio Civic Center, Del Rio; and Uvalde County, 3:30 p.m., El Progreso Memorial Library, Uvalde.
• Wednesday, Sept. 14: Dallam County, 8 a.m., Rita Blanca Coliseum, Dalhart; Gray County, 10:30 a.m., Pampa Chamber of Commerce, Pampa; Deaf Smith County, 1 p.m., Hereford Independent School District Administration Building, Hereford; and Lubbock County, 3:30 p.m., Texas Tech Food and Animal Science Building, Lubbock.
• Thursday, Sept. 15: Walker County, 8 a.m., Huntsville Chamber of Commerce, Huntsville; Brazos County, 10:45 a.m., Brazos Valley Council of Governments, Bryan; Washington County, 1 p.m., Blinn College, Brenham; and Fayette County, 3:30 p.m., Schulenburg Civic Center, Schulenburg.
"The truth is that these very low numbers of NRs (non-compliance reports) demonstrate a remarkable level of compliance with federal regulations exceeding 99.9 percent. The miniscule fraction of instances in which federal inspectors filed these reports —many of which involve paperwork mistakes rather than processing problems—should not be cause for concern. Moreover, immediate corrective actions were taken and documented. The chance of these limited instances posing any risk to the public is so remote that it is like being struck by lightning and winning the lottery on the same day."
—Statement by American Meat Institute Foundation President James Hodges upon release by USDA of 1,036 noncompliance reports filed over a 17-month period on BSE testing procedures.
