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From: TSS ()
In Reply to: Re: Investigation Results of Texas Cow That Tested Positive for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Aug. 30, 2005 posted by TSS on August 30, 2005 at 10:52 am:
FONG SYNDROME or THE FONG EFFECT THE JUNE 2004 USDA/APHIS BSE ENHANCED COVER-UP CONTINUES Friday, July 29, 2005 By: Associated Press - Associated Press "I think the change is good because we're more likely to know exactly what we're dealing with on each case," said Dr. Randall Levings, director of the labs. The change is a response to an order from U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. "We took those as our marching orders," Levings said. Mad cow disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, attacks a cow's nervous system. It is characterized by spongelike holes in the brain, the result of misshapen proteins called prions that kill brain cells. The only way it is known to spread is by cattle eating infected brain and nerve tissue from other cows. That's why the government in 1997 banned the use of cattle feed that contains remnants of other cows. Of the three cases of mad cow confirmed in the United States, all three cows were born before the feed ban, Levings said. Since January 2004, the government has tested more than 400,000 cows for the disease, using a rapid screening test and a test known immunohistochemistry, or IHC. Rapid testing of a sample involves removing normal proteins and adding chemicals that bind to the abnormal proteins, making them visible. The IHC test involves staining paper-thin brain tissue samples to highlight the abnormal protein. The Western blot test, conducted at Weybridge destroys normal proteins in the brain, leaving only the abnormal prions. In June, the nation's Office of Inspector General ordered a review of the Ames lab's testing procedures after a sample last fall tested positive in England, but negative in Ames. A rapid test on the sample in Ames detected the presence of BSE, but the following IHC test was negative. Ames workers also relayed the results of the test, but did not complete formal paperwork. A version of mad cow disease, known as variant Creutzfeld-Jakob, has killed about 150 people worldwide, most of them in Britain, where there was an outbreak in the 1990s. "We're taking all of the right steps," Levings said. "It would not be a risk to human or animal health in this country. It's not high. It's very, very low." IF not for the Honorable Phyllis Fong, that cow would have never been proven postive, well, documented anyway, it was proven postive time and time again... The Fong Syndrome strikes again. GW's BSE/TSE MRR policy a recipe for disaster. USA in dire straights. God help us... TSS No Sacred Cows: Phyllis Fong Takes on the Beltway and Mad Cow Disease Newly appointed Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns appears to be headed for a showdown with veteran Inspector General Phyllis K. Fong for ordering new tests for mad cow disease in the nation’s beef supply. Since the tests Fong ordered have returned positive, several countries have once again stopped buying U.S. beef, provoking uproar in the cattle industry. Reacting to industry pressure, Johanns now claims Fong requested the tests without his knowledge or approval and added: “It caught me by surprise, to be very honest with you. I believe the secretary should be involved in all decisions of this significance.” Fong, the senior officer of the Inspector General’s office of the USDA was sworn in on December 2, 2002 after serving as Inspector General for the Small Business Administration. Like Johanns, she is appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The Inspector General’s office is an independent arm of the department that performs audits and investigations. When she ordered the re-testing of the latest case, she issued a statement saying she was also probing “the performance of [laboratories] in complying with procedures for conducting tests.” With the cow that was suspected of having the disease, she reported: “Auditors noted an unusual pattern of conflicting test results on one sample.” The Veterinary Laboratories Agency in Weybridge, England, an outside testing agency, confirmed that a sample from an animal in November 2004 tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease. Yet Johanns, who took the reins of the Agriculture Department early this year in a Bush cabinet shake-up, insists that Fong has overstepped her bounds. “I was asked by the Senate and the president to operate the department,” Johanns said. “She could recommend; she could strongly urge. But then the question is whether it’s an operational decision.” He reportedly learned of Fong’s order from his chief of staff after the new testing was already under way. He charges that it’s up for debate whether Fong had the authority to order the new tests, and asserts: “It’s my domain.” This is not the first time Fong has found herself in the eye of the storm. After allegations of misconduct arose in the handling of the first cow with mad cow disease, Fong launched a criminal investigation. “Currently we are investigating allegations surrounding the actual state of the diseased cow before it went to slaughter,” Fong testified last year before the House subcommittee on agriculture appropriations. “So that’s a criminal investigation that’s open, ongoing, active and it’s focused on that issue.” Fong’s investigation concluded that there was no criminal negligence, but in July she released an audit of the USDA’s testing program and concluded it had serious flaws that could undermine its credibility and lead to questionable estimates of how widespread the disease is in America. Fong recently re-opened investigations started during the administration of Johanns’ predecessor, Ann Veneman. Veneman began a reform push on testing U.S. beef, but her efforts eventually ran aground amid battles between competing interests, including the beef industry, scientists and consumer activists. The two behind-the-scenes audits follow complaints by several cow-state senators over policies and procedures in testing for mad cow disease. Fong said in a statement that “our field work is ongoing” with results expected “late this summer.” USDA’s Top Cop As a young girl, Phyllis Fong had a hankering for the law. Those interests began in her childhood, kindled by her father. “When I was growing up, I remember searching, as all kids do, for a career path that matched my talents,” she said in an article for the USDA. “And my father said to me, at one point in high school, that he really thought law school would be right for me, that I would be a tremendous lawyer. I had never thought about that as an option.” Fong’s family had emigrated from Hawai‘i to China generations before, in the mid-1800s. Unlike a lot of APA families who insist that the children follow in the family business, Fong recalls, “He was a doctor and yet he did not suggest I go into medical school. I think he was tired of my arguing with him about everything!” “I had a wonderful experience growing up. They call Hawai‘i a melting pot because of its multi-racial and multi-cultural society. I always felt that everyone there had the opportunity to become anything. It didn’t matter what color, what sex, what race, what ethnic heritage you were, if you were interested in something you could pursue it,” she said. An unusual route led to her toward the senior job as USDA’s Inspector General. After studying Asian studies and finishing her law degree, she intended to become an international lawyer specializing in trade and immigration. But when Fong arrived in Washington, D.C., she got a job with the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, which at the time was studying immigration policy. One thing led to another, and a colleague who was the Inspector General at the U.S. Small Business Administration asked her to become her special assistant “I realized this was a good opportunity. Who can be against going after fraud and abuse? Who can be against economy and efficiency in government?” Fong has been in the field ever since, and oversees about 600 employees divided almost evenly between investigators and auditors. Name: Phyllis K. Fong Salary: $136,900 Position: Inspector General, USDA. She’s responsible for conducting and supervising audits and evaluations, as well as investigations and law enforcement efforts. Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Family: Married, two daughters, ages 4 and 7 Education: BA degree in Asian Studies, Pomona College; Juris Doctorate, Vanderbilt University School of Law Past Experience: She was Inspector General of the U.S. Small Business Administration from 1999-2002 after holding several positions with the SBA, including Assistant Inspector General for Management and Legal Counsel and Assistant Inspector General for Management and Policy. In the early 1980s, she had served as assistant general counsel for the Legal Services Corporation and, before that, as an attorney with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Hobbies/Interests: Needlepoint Priorities: “To instill the message within USDA that OIG’s mission is not just to audit and investigate. Our mission is to work in partnership with the Department to manage programs more effectively and deal with fraud and abuse.” The Associated Press and USDA contributed to this report. http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=67ea9860e23ed4d55409d8d845e3b40b Statement on Texas Cow With Central Nervous System Symptoms FDA, which is responsible for the safety of animal feed, immediately began FDA's investigation showed that the animal in question had already been Cattle with central nervous system symptoms are of particular interest FDA is sending a letter to the firm summarizing its findings and informing To protect the U.S. against BSE, FDA works to keep certain mammalian protein Under the current regulation, the material from this Texas cow is not FDA is committed to protecting the U.S. from BSE and collaborates closely #### ooops! Note: On Dec. 23, 2003, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that a FDA ANNOUNCES TEST RESULTS FROM TEXAS FEED LOT FDA has determined that each animal could have consumed, at most and in It is important to note that the prohibited material was domestic in origin According to Dr. Bernard Schwetz, FDA's Acting Principal Deputy Despite this negligible risk, Purina Mills, Inc., is nonetheless announcing FDA believes that Purina Mills has behaved responsibly by first reporting This episode indicates that the multi-layered safeguard system put into FDA will continue working with USDA as well as State and local officials to http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2001/NEW00752.html Corinne Ida Lasmézas, Emmanuel Comoy, Stephen Hawkins, Christian Herzog, Published online January 27, 2005 http://www.thelancet.com/journal/journal.isa It is clear that the designing scientists must also have shared Mr Bradley's surprise at the results because all the dose levels right down to 1 gram triggered infection. 6. It also appears to me that Mr Bradley's answer (that it would take less grams) was probably given with the benefit of hindsight; particularly if one considers that later in the same answer Mr Bradley expresses his surprise could take as little of 1 gram of brain to cause BSE by the oral route same species. This information did not become available until the "attack experiment had been completed in 1995/96. This was a titration experiment designed to ascertain the infective dose. A range of dosages was used to that the actual result was within both a lower and an upper limit within the and the designing scientists would not have expected all the dose levels to infection. The dose ranges chosen by the most informed scientists at that ranged from 1 gram to three times one hundred grams. It is clear that the scientists must have also shared Mr Bradley's surprise at the results dose levels right down to 1 gram triggered infection. [BBC radio 4 FARM news] http://www.maddeer.org/audio/BBC4farmingtoday2_1_03.ram http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/03/slides/3923s1_OPH.htm To cattle: 1 gram of infected brain material (by oral ingestion) http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/sci/bio/bseesbe.shtml Cristina Casalone *, Gianluigi Zanusso , Pierluigi Acutis *, Sergio Ferrari *Centro di Referenza Nazionale per le Encefalopatie Animali, Istituto Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), or prion diseases, are C.C. and G.Z. contributed equally to this work. ||To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: salvatore.monaco@mail.univr.it . www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0305777101 Gibbs CJ Jr, Amyx HL, Bacote A, Masters CL, Gajdusek DC. Kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease of humans and scrapie disease of sheep PMID: 6997404
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