Re: U.S. plans a major reduction in its BSE testing

Let's compare Canada's approach to preventing anything like the use of
statins.
"They concluded 19,600 people would have to take the medication for five
years to prevent a single death from heart disease."
How many deaths are attributed to mad cow disease each year?
The US is learning from Canada on how to save money.
There will be many more lives lost in Canada by not treating patients at
high risk for CAD compared to lives lost to mad cow disease in the US.

"TC" <tunderbar@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1113500939.791948.216450@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
http://calgary.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=ca-mad-cow-usda20050414
>
> U.S. denies having 2 BSE cases in 1997
> Last Updated Apr 14 2005 08:18 AM MDT
> CBC News
> WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Agriculture admits there were
> problems with the samples taken from two cows in 1997, but insists the
> animals did not have mad cow disease.
>
>
> Ron DeHaven, administrator of the USDA's Animal and Plant Inspection
> Service, said that while key parts of the animals' brains needed to
> make an accurate diagnosis were missing and not tested, it was better
> to test what they had.
>
>
> "We had two choices: run the tests with the samples that we had, or not
> run them at all," DeHaven said "If we had something to hide, we could
> make an argument for not running the samples at all.
>
>
> "In this case, we chose to run the samples with the tissues that we had
> and subject them to three different tests to compensate for the fact
> that we may not have the perfect tissues."
>
>
> For years Canadian cattle producers have been suspicious about U.S.
> claims that it has only found one cow affected with bovine spongiform
> encephalopathy - and that the one animal had been born in Canada. The
> cow, sent south from Leduc, was diagnosed in December 2003 in
> Washington state.
>
>
> Three other Canadian-born animals have tested positive for BSE. The
> first case, confirmed in May 2003, saw the U.S. shut its border to
> Canadian beef. It was to reopen last month, but an American ranchers'
> group obtained a temporary injunction.
>
>
> CBC News uncovered a USDA video showing what USDA veterinarians feared
> might be two cases of mad cow disease in the U.S.
>
>
> The official tests were negative. But CBC news uncovered documents
> showing key areas of the cow's brain, in both cases, were never tested.
>
>
> Retired USDA scientist Karl Langheinrich says without those tests,
> American authorities will never be able to rule out mad cow disease.
>
>
> "It means you cannot make a diagnosis, a specific diagnosis," he said.
>
>
> Rick Paskal, who runs a feedlot near Iron Springs and has fought to
> have the U.S. border reopened, says the news is frustrating.
>
>
> "It just enrages me, this double standard that they have set on the
> North American continent," he said. "We need to ensure to the consumers
> that our beef is safe.
>
>
> "And when people within the USDA, their own people are questioning
> their own organization as to whether some of the protocols were
> followed or not followed, then my goodness, it doesn't speak for their
> system."
>
>
> Bill Donald, president of the Montana Stockgrowers Association, says
> the important thing is that the U.S. has been diligent in its testing
> for the last 14 months.
>
>
> "I think this increased testing that's being done right now is more
> meaningful than some tests in 1997, where they thought they had some
> problems with the samples," he said.
>
>
> Rob McNabb, of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, says his
> organization wants the USDA to investigate.
>
>
> "What we would fully expect is that the USDA address the allegations,"
> he said.
>
>
> One of the USDA's top officials said that the U.S. testing program was
> never designed to catch every single case of mad cow disease, but to
> measure how much disease there is.
>
>
> After testing thousands of animals the USDA believes if BSE exists,
> it's at a very low level.
>
>
> Next year, the U.S. plans a major reduction in its BSE testing program,
> from a high of 300,000 animals to just 40,000.
>
>
> *******
>
>
> I hope they implement an Country of Origin Labeling program in North
> America for beef. I am only buying Canadian Beef. At least then I know
> that they are doing all they can to properly deal with all cases of
> BSE, unlike in the US where they are trying to hide it from everyone
> including their own consumers.
>
>
> TC
>


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