Meat + Poultry - July 2004 - 3

Inconclusive B.S.E. tests have
the beef industry on edge
WASHINGTON, D.C. - It is not the kind of news anyone wanted to hear. Within a one-week
period the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's enhanced bovine spongiform encephalopathy surveillance program turned up two "inconclusive" tests for the disease. The first test was negative
and officials were waiting for the results of the second test at press time.
In an announcement made June 25, the day the first inconclusive test was announced,
U.S.D.A. officials made it clear the inconclusive tests are a normal part of the department's
surveillance program. "The inconclusive result does not mean we have found another case
of B.S.E. in this country," said Dr. Clark Clifford, deputy administrator for U.S.D.A.'s Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service. "Inconclusive results are a normal component of most
screening tests, which are designed to be extremely sensitive so they will detect any sample that could possibly be positive.
"Tissue samples are now being sent to U.S.D.A.'s National Veterinary Services Laboratories, Ames, and the national B.S.E. reference lab which will run confirmatory testing. This
animal did not enter the human food chain nor the feed chain." On June 29, Clifford issued
what was almost a carbon copy of his previous statement, commenting on a second inconclusive test.
Executives from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Denver, made it clear
the first and second findings are the result of U.S.D.A.'s two-part test process. To test
a significant number of targeted animals, the government's first step uses a rapid
screening test, which can produce inconclusive results. The second step is now under way with the samples going to N.V.S.L. The lab has the capability to use what is
referred to as the "gold standard." immunohistochemistry test to determine the presence of B.S.E.
The U.S.D.A. announcement came at a time when U.S. officials are trying to get the government of Japan to re-open its border to U.S. beef. Response from Japanese officials indicated they are taking a wait-and-see approach to the current situation.
Phil Seng, president and C.E.O. of the U.S. Meat Export Federation, Denver, quickly
sought to reassure the international community regarding the safety of U.S. beef following
the first inconclusive test result announcement. "The U.S.D.A. announcement was not unexpected," he said. "The new and aggressive U.S. surveillance program was designed to
cast the widest net possible and, as the Europeans and Japanese have learned, inconclusive test results can result.
"The important thing to remember is this: The U.S. has in place a federally-mandated and
industry implemented dual firewall system designed to help us better understand the prevalence of B.S.E. in the U.S. while protecting human health. Our surveillance program helps
us understand the animal health threat, while new, in-plant protocol designed to remove potentially infectious material from the human food chain to protect human health."
A week before the first inconclusive test result, world agriculture policy makers,
meat traders, veterinarians and private sector producers met in Winnipeg, Canada, to
discuss the impact of animal disease outbreaks on the global food industry. "It is clear
the international livestock markets are becoming increasingly complex and fragmented as animal disease outbreaks, stricter food quality standards and consequent shifts
in consumer preferences lead to policy and institutional changes in livestock markets,"
said Alexander Sarris, director of commodities and trade for the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations. "These issues are posing challenges to economic
agents in the global livestock economy and have implications for the future effective
functioning of markets."
According to F.A.O., animal diseases, rising feed prices and considerable uncertainty
about consumer demand for meat products are slowing the expansion in global meat output in 2004. Global meat markets have been disrupted by the impact of avian influenza,
Continued on Page 4
JULY 2004

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A.I. detected in
Texas again
HOPKINS COUNTY, TEXAS - In late June,
laboratory tests confirmed that a flock of 14
birds in Hopkins County in northeast Texas
was infected with H7N3, the same strain of
avian influenza that led to the depopulation
of 48,000 commercial breeding chickens in
the county in mid-May. The small flock, located about four miles from the depopulated commercial operations, was immediately
euthanized and incinerated.
Health officials announced the Texas Animal Health Commission veterinarians may
need to revise the A.I. disease surveillance
plan, and additional testing of flocks in the
area will be necessary to ensure disease
eradication and to satisfy the requirements of
interstate and international trading partners.
"This turn of events is disappointing to us
and the area's poultry owners, but it demonstrates why widespread, repeated flock testing is necessary during an A.I. outbreak," said
Dr. Max Coats, deputy director of the animal
health programs for T.A.H.C.
"This infected non-commercial flock was
one of more than 315 in a 300-square-mile
area that tested negative a little more than
two weeks ago. Our on-site team had nearly completed the second round of testing the
flocks when the National Veterinary Services
Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, reported the positive test results."
Coats said a team comprised of T.A.H.C.
and U.S. Dept. of Agriculture inspectors and
two veterinarians has been stationed in Sulphur Springs, Texas, since mid-May, after
two commercial breeding flocks nearby tested positive for the H7N3 strain. The chickens, which did not exhibit signs of disease,
were depopulated and buried, to prevent exposure to other birds.
"We will need to retest some of the area's
flocks again in order to ensure our trading
partners that all traces of this viral bird disease have been detected and eradicated,"
said Coats. "Additionally, we will have to
change our testing area, as the testing protocol calls for disease surveillance within a 10mile radius of an infected flock - whether it is
a commercial or non-commercial operation."

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Meat + Poultry - July 2004

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