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From: TSS ()
Mad-Cow Feed Rules Will Be Tightened in U.S. in 2006 (Update1) The Food and Drug Administration will publish by July 1 its final version of revised cattle-feed rules, said Stephen Sundlof, the head of the agency's Center for Veterinary Medicine, in an interview today. The rule will take effect a short time later, perhaps within a month, he said. The FDA announced the draft rules in October. The revisions will be the first tightening of the rules since the FDA barred feeding cattle parts to cattle in 1997. The FDA has considered and then abandoned stronger measures for preventing the brain-wasting disease, also called bovine spongiform encephalopathy, said Representative Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House panel that oversees the FDA budget. ``We have been operating under rules from 1997, even though our understanding of how BSE is spread has increased dramatically since then,'' DeLauro, of Connecticut, told Acting FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach at a subcommittee meeting today on the agency's budget. Mad cow disease, which has a fatal human form, appears to spread to cattle and people by eating infected meat. The disease appears to stem from abnormal proteins, called prions, which occur in cattle's small intestines, brains, eyes and spinal cords. The disease robs people of speech and control of their movement, leaving them immobile and mute, and then leading to death. Ban by Japan The first U.S. case of mad cow disease was discovered in December 2003, touching off a ban on the nation's beef by Japan, formerly the biggest importer of the product. Japan had only allowed imports to resume in December and then suspended them again in January following the discovery of banned spinal tissue in three boxes of a veal shipment. Tommy Thompson, then U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary, said in January 2004 the FDA would bar cattle from receiving mammal blood in feed because of a theoretical risk of transmitting mad cow disease. Thompson also said the agency would bar feeding litter from chicken pens and table scraps from restaurants to cattle, as they can contain cattle meat. None of these measures was included in the proposal the FDA released in October, DeLauro said. The FDA instead said it would focus on what it considered the biggest risk, and called for eliminating the brains and spinal cords of cows older than 30 months from animal feed. The FDA is looking to change how all animals are fed to prevent cases of cattle eating food intended for other animals being exposed to mad cow disease. The FDA will have a final rule by July 1, von Eschenbach said. ``We have approached this very much from the point of view of risk and concern about the risk and benefit that would come'' from further regulation, he said. To contact the reporter on this story: Last Updated: February 16, 2006 18:24 EST Congressional Testimony http://www.fda.gov/ola/2006/budget_hearing0216.html FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kate Cyrul DeLauro Questions APHIS Officials over Retesting of Infected Cow – IG Report finds agency officials overruled advice of field scientists – WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) today questioned the reasoning of officials at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) that overruled the advice of field scientists on the retesting of a domestic cow found to have the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) disease. After the USDA announced that the first case of BSE was identified in a native-born cow last June, officials at APHIS said no further testing of the animal was needed. The USDA’s inspector general, however, determined the testing used proved inconclusive results and said that a sample from the cow should be sent for further testing. DeLauro is ranking member of the House Appropriations Agriculture subcommittee, which has jurisdiction and oversight responsibilities of USDA and FDA. “I am concerned that the APHIS officials that reviewed these results seemed to make decisions based not on science, but on the economic ramifications a positive BSE finding in a domestic born animal could have on the U.S. economy,” said DeLauro. “When consumer safety is in question, APHIS should not be forced into additional testing of an inconclusive sample by its inspector general. “While we are glad that this cow did not enter the human food supply, APHIS officials had a responsibility to further examine this sample that even our “gold standard” test proved inconclusive. By refusing to send samples for further testing, APHIS could have jeopardized consumer health and safety and put the industry at a disadvantage, drawing into question the safety of our beef. “Today I am requesting that APHIS disclose which officials made this decision and further explain their reasoning for not voluntarily testing this inconclusive sample further.” ### www.house.gov/delaurotss http://www.house.gov/delauro/press/2006/February/APHIS_retesting_2_3_06.html Audit Report Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Bovine Spongiform UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL Executive Summary Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service - Bovine Spongiform Results in Brief This report evaluates elements of the interlocking In June 2004, APHIS implemented its expanded surveillance program; USDA made significant efforts to implement the expanded BSE surveillance snip... 41 Protocol for BSE Contract Laboratories to Receive and Test Bovine Brain 42 The NVSL conducted an ELISA test on the original material tested at the 43 A visual examination of brain tissue by a microscope. 44 A localized pathological change in a bodily organ or tissue. SNIP... http://www.usda.gov/oig/webdocs/50601-10-KC.pdf [GAO-05-101 ] Mad Cow Disease: FDA's Management of the Feed Ban Has Improved, but Oversight Weaknesses Continue to Limit Program Effectiveness [2] [GAO-05-101 ] Mad Cow Disease: FDA's Management of the Feed Ban Has Improved, but Oversight Weaknesses Continue to Limit Program Effectiveness http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/useftp.cgi?IPaddress=162.140.64.88&filename=d05101.txt&directory=/diskb/wais/data/gao 03-025IFA From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr. [flounder9@verizon.net] Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2005 6:17 PM To: fsis.regulationscomments@fsis.usda.gov Subject: [Docket No. 03-025IFA] FSIS Prohibition of the Use of Specified Risk Materials for Human Food and Requirements for the Disposition of Non-Ambulatory Disabled Cattle Greetings FSIS, I would kindly like to submit the following to [Docket No. 03-025IFA] FSIS Prohibition of the Use of Specified Risk Materials for Human Food and Requirements for the Disposition of Non-Ambulatory Disabled Cattle THE BSE/TSE SUB CLINICAL Non-Ambulatory Disabled Cattle Broken bones and such may be the first signs of a sub clinical BSE/TSE Non-Ambulatory Disabled Cattle ; SUB CLINICAL PRION INFECTION MRC-43-00 Issued: Monday, 28 August 2000 NEW EVIDENCE OF SUB-CLINICAL PRION INFECTION: IMPORTANT RESEARCH FINDINGS RELEVANT TO CJD AND BSE P.O. Box 42 Bacliff, Texas USA 77518 9/13/2005 http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/Comments/03-025IFA/03-025IFA-2.pdf ======================================================== OLD TSS SUBMISSIONS; Docket No, 04-047-l Regulatory Identification No. (RIN) 091O-AF46 NEW BSE SAFEGUARDS (comment submission) https://web01.aphis.usda.gov/regpublic.nsf/0/eff9eff1f7c5cf2b87256ecf000df08d?OpenDocument Docket No. 03-080-1 -- USDA ISSUES PROPOSED RULE TO ALLOW LIVE ANIMAL http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/03n0312/03N-0312_emc-000001.txt Docket Management Docket: 02N-0273 - Substances Prohibited From Use in Animal Food or Feed; Animal Proteins Prohibited in Ruminant Feed Comment Number: EC -10 Accepted - Volume 2 PART 2 PDF]Freas, William TSS SUBMISSION File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Page 1. J Freas, William From: Sent: To: Subject: Terry S. Singeltary Sr. [flounder@wt.net] Monday, January 08,200l 3:03 PM freas ... http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/01/slides/3681s2_09.pdf Asante/Collinge et al, that BSE transmission to the 129-methionine genotype can lead to an alternate phenotype that is indistinguishable from type 2 PrPSc, the commonest _sporadic_ CJD; http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/03/slides/3923s1_OPH.htm http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/03n0312/03N-0312_emc-000001.txt > This compares to 100% mortality in less than 25 months in elk orally > inoculated with different dosages of the CWD prion. DRAFT WYOMING GAME AND FISH DEPARTMENT CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE MANAGEMENT PLAN February 17, 2006 http://gf.state.wy.us/downloads/pdf/04-05_annual_report.pdf tss
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