Purdue News
Purdue News
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February 28, 2001 Preventative efforts keeping mad cow disease outWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University experts say feed monitoring and examination of suspect cattle are taking place in Indiana to prevent mad cow disease from becoming a problem here. The disease, technically known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, has caused problems in other parts of the world but not in the United States. BSE attacks the nervous system of cattle fed protein that came from infected ruminants, which are animals that chew their cud and have a multichambered stomach. In 1997 the Food and Drug Administration banned feeding such protein from meat and bone meal to cattle and sheep. Recently, meat and bone meal from cattle made its way into cattle feed in Texas. Simon Kenyon, Purdue Cooperative Extension Service veterinarian, says this has triggered much public discussion about the risks of the disease. Hoosier feed manufacturers are required to follow FDA regulations under the Indiana Commercial Feed Law. Inspections are routinely performed to make sure requirements are met. "Indiana feed manufacturers support this ban to make sure BSE doesn't get into the United States," says Bob Geiger, feed administrator for the Purdue-based office of the Indiana state chemist. "They realize how devastating it would be to the cattle and feed industries. It is ruining the beef industries in Britain, Germany and France." During inspections three major areas are examined, Geiger says. First, a written plan must be in place preventing cross-contamination of cattle feed with ruminant protein. Feed manufacturing equipment has to be cleaned before ruminant feed is run through it. Feeds containing meat and bone meal also must include a warning label stating, "Caution: Do not feed to cattle or other ruminants." The final step is making sure rendering plants and feed manufacturers have a program ensuring meat and bone meal do not get delivered to cattle producers. "Indiana has a good handle on this issue," says Geiger. "There is good communication between our office and feed manufacturers about management practices. This continual effort works well in our state. "This is a cooperative effort involving several aspects of animal agriculture. Cattle producers, feed manufacturers and regulators took a close look at the situation in Britain and decided to take the necessary steps to enforce the ban here." Kenyon says solid procedures have been implemented to prevent a BSE outbreak in the United States. "No cases have occurred and active surveillance of cows with neurological diseases is happening," he says. In Indiana, cattle that died with symptoms of neurological problems are examined at Purdue's Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. A test is run on sections of the brain in which mad cow disease would be evident. The animals are then incinerated to keep them out of the food chain. "We are constantly looking for the occurrence of this disease," says Leon Thacker, diagnostic laboratory director. "We do our part to look at suspect animals. We aren't just sweeping this problem under the rug." Despite concern over BSE both here and abroad, Kenyon says the disease should be kept in perspective. Scientists believe BSE-infected meat can cause a fatal illness in humans called new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Thus far, approximately 90 people in Europe have been infected and none in the United States. "In Britain, if you were to rank food-borne illnesses, the frequency of mad cow would be far down on the list. It affects fewer people than the number who get sick from salmonella and E. coli," Kenyon says. "Europe has had an economic and political meltdown because of mad cow disease. I would hate to see that happen here." Sources: Simon Kenyon, (765) 494-0333, kenyons@vet.purdue.edu Bob Geiger, (765) 494-1550, geigerb@isco.purdue.edu Writer: Jennifer Doup, (765) 494-6682, jdoup@aes.purdue.edu Other source: Leon Thacker, (765) 494-7460, thackerl@purdue.edu Related Web sites:
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