USDA SETS NEW STANDARDS FOR GROUND BEEF PURCHASES

Release No. 0267.10

Contact: Michael Jarvis (202)720-8998 Michael.Jarvis@ams.usda.gov Billy Cox (202)720-8998 Billy.cox@ams.usda.gov

USDA SETS NEW STANDARDS FOR GROUND BEEF PURCHASES

Washington, May 14, 2010 -- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA had completed tough new food safety standards for ground beef purchased by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) for Federal food and nutrition assistance programs including school lunches.

"The health of our school children is a top priority at USDA, and today we are moving ahead quickly with plans announced earlier this year to ensure that food provided to nutrition programs is as safe and nutritious as possible," Vilsack said. "The new standards announced today ensure our purchases are in line with major private-sector buyers of ground beef and are part of our continued effort to employ the best scientific knowledge to increase the safety of our nutritional programs."

This past February, Vilsack announced a series of initiatives to improve the safety of food purchased for school lunch and nutrition assistance programs, and standards announced today marks the completion of one of those initiatives. The standards are the result of a joint review by the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and Agricultural Research Service (ARS) that has been ongoing since the February announcement.

The new requirements will be applicable to AMS ground beef contracts awarded on or after July 1, 2010.

In addition to continuing a zero tolerance for E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella, the new AMS standards will: (1) tighten microbiological testing protocols; (2) tighten the microbiological upper specification and critical limits; (3) increase microbiological sampling frequency for finished products to every 15 minutes; and, (4) institute additional rejection criteria for source trimmings used to manufacture AMS purchased ground beef. AMS will also consider any vendor classified by FSIS as having a long term poor safety record as an ineligible vendor until a complete cause-and-effect analysis is completed.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has begun its review of AMS ground beef purchase requirements. NAS brings together experts in all areas of science to provide an independent review of the program. The review is focused on three major areas: 1) a thorough evaluation of the scientific validity of current technical requirements and methods; 2) to benchmark those processes and methods against recognized industry leading programs, which supply product directly to consumers through retail sales or food service operations; and 3) provide recommendations to AMS on how to perform future periodic evaluations against industry recognized best practices.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).


http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/!ut/p/c4/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os_gAC9-wMJ8QY0MDpxBDA09nXw9DFxcXQ-cAA_2CbEdFAEUOjoE!/?contentidonly=true&contentid=2010%2F05%2F0267.xml




Greetings,

Considering what the NSLP and the USDA have done in the past, I would welcome any new standard. So I applaud these new standards.

However, feeding those dead stock downer cows to children for over 4 years was something they should never ever be able to forget about. dead stock downer cows are the most high risk animal for mad cow disease, and they knew this when the feeding to our children of this product was taking place. the USDA et al via the NSLP fed our children all across the USA, from state to state, the largest beef recall in history, they fed our children DEAD STOCK DOWNER COWS, the most HIGH RISK CATTLE FOR MAD COW DISEASE, they fed them to our children, and hid the largest beef recall in USA history, hid this recall under the guise of 'animal abuse'. then told the parents not to worry because none of the kids had been sick or died from it to date. CJD can incubate for decades. anyway, just wanted to tell you about this, and thank you for what you are trying to do...



WHO WILL WATCH THE CHILDREN FOR CJD OVER THE NEXT 5 + DECADES ???



Do you actually believe that the USDA et al jumped in on the law suit against Westland/Hallmark, at the time the largest beef recall in USA history, just because a few animals were abused on a video, or to cover their ass, for letting our children, from school district to school district, from state to state, be fed dead stock downer cows.



>>> In the papers, the government alleges the meatpacking plant slaughtered and processed downer cows for nearly four years — from January 2004 to September 2007 — at the average rate of one every six weeks... <<<


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2009/09/suit-meatpacker-used-downer-cows-for-4.html



Do you actually believe all these schools recalled this meat because of a few cattle being abused,


see list ; FNS All Regions Affected School Food Authorities By State United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service National School Lunch Program March 24, 2008 School Food Authorities Affected by Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. Beef Recall February 2006 - February 2008


http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/safety/Hallmark-Westland_byState.pdf


http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/safety/pdf/Hallmark-Westland_byState.pdf#xml=http://65.216.150.153/texis/search/pdfhi.txt?query=Hallmark/Westland+Meat+Packing+Co.+Beef+Recall&pr=FNS&prox=page&rorder=500&rprox=500&rdfreq=500&rwfreq=500&rlead=500&rdepth=0&sufs=0&order=r&cq=&id=4bc8d6e114



IF url does not work above, go to this link to find out if any of your children and their school were part of this recall ; go to this site ;


http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/


left hand corner search ; Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. Beef Recall your should get this ;


http://65.216.150.153/texis/search?pr=FNS



1 through 1 of 1 matching documents, best matches first. sort by date 1: Hallmark - Westland SFA Reporting by State - 3-24-2008.xls Lunch Program March 24, 2008 School Food Authorities Affected by Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. Beef Recall February 2006 - February 2008 The U.S. Department of Agriculture ...


http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/safety/pdf/Hallmark-Westland_byState.pdf#xml=http://65.216.150.153/texis/search/pdfhi.txt?query=Hallmark/Westland+Meat+Packing+Co.+Beef+Recall&pr=FNS&prox=page&rorder=500&rprox=500&rdfreq=500&rwfreq=500&rlead=500&rdepth=0&sufs=0&order=r&cq=&id=4bc8d6e114



PLEASE SEE ALSO ;



Members of The HSUS are also concerned about the meat products provided to their children through the National School Lunch Program. More than 31 million school children receive lunches through the program each school day. To assist states in providing healthful, low-cost or free meals, USDA provides states with various commodities including ground beef. As evidenced by the HallmarkNVestland investigation and recall, the potential for downed animals to make their way into the National School Lunch Program is neither speculative nor hypothetical.



http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/cases/FDA/hsus-v-schafer-usda-complaint.pdf



PLEASE NOTE *




Over the next 8-10 weeks, approximately 40% of all the adult mink on the farm died from TME.



snip...



The rancher was a ''dead stock'' feeder using mostly (>95%) downer or dead dairy cattle...




http://web.archive.org/web/20030516051623/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/mb/m09/tab05.pdf





PLEASE be aware, for 4 years, the USDA fed our children all across the Nation dead stock downer cows, the most high risk cattle for BSE aka mad cow disease and other dangerous pathogens. who will watch our children for CJD for the next 5+ decades ???



SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM FROM DOWNER CATTLE UPDATE


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2009/05/who-will-watch-children.html



http://downercattle.blogspot.com/




Transmissible Spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) animal and human TSE in North America

14th ICID International Scientific Exchange Brochure -

Final Abstract Number: ISE.114

Session: International Scientific Exchange

Transmissible Spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) animal and human TSE in North America

update October 2009

T. Singeltary

Bacliff, TX, USA

Background:

An update on atypical BSE and other TSE in North America. Please remember, the typical U.K. c-BSE, the atypical l-BSE (BASE), and h-BSE have all been documented in North America, along with the typical scrapie's, and atypical Nor-98 Scrapie, and to date, 2 different strains of CWD, and also TME. All these TSE in different species have been rendered and fed to food producing animals for humans and animals in North America (TSE in cats and dogs ?), and that the trading of these TSEs via animals and products via the USA and Canada has been immense over the years, decades.

Methods:

12 years independent research of available data

Results:

I propose that the current diagnostic criteria for human TSEs only enhances and helps the spreading of human TSE from the continued belief of the UKBSEnvCJD only theory in 2009. With all the science to date refuting it, to continue to validate this old myth, will only spread this TSE agent through a multitude of potential routes and sources i.e. consumption, medical i.e., surgical, blood, dental, endoscopy, optical, nutritional supplements, cosmetics etc.

Conclusion:

I would like to submit a review of past CJD surveillance in the USA, and the urgent need to make all human TSE in the USA a reportable disease, in every state, of every age group, and to make this mandatory immediately without further delay. The ramifications of not doing so will only allow this agent to spread further in the medical, dental, surgical arena's. Restricting the reporting of CJD and or any human TSE is NOT scientific. Iatrogenic CJD knows NO age group, TSE knows no boundaries. I propose as with Aguzzi, Asante, Collinge, Caughey, Deslys, Dormont, Gibbs, Gajdusek, Ironside, Manuelidis, Marsh, et al and many more, that the world of TSE Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy is far from an exact science, but there is enough proven science to date that this myth should be put to rest once and for all, and that we move forward with a new classification for human and animal TSE that would properly identify the infected species, the source species, and then the route.

page 114 ;


http://ww2.isid.org/Downloads/14th_ICID_ISE_Abstracts.pdf




International Society for Infectious Diseases Web: http://www.isid.org/

please see full text ;


http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/




To date the OIE/WAHO assumes that the human and animal health standards set out in the BSE chapter for classical BSE (C-Type) applies to all forms of BSE which include the H-type and L-type atypical forms. This assumption is scientifically not completely justified and accumulating evidence suggests that this may in fact not be the case. Molecular characterization and the spatial distribution pattern of histopathologic lesions and immunohistochemistry (IHC) signals are used to identify and characterize atypical BSE. Both the L-type and H-type atypical cases display significant differences in the conformation and spatial accumulation of the disease associated prion protein (PrPSc) in brains of afflicted cattle. Transmission studies in bovine transgenic and wild type mouse models support that the atypical BSE types might be unique strains because they have different incubation times and lesion profiles when compared to C-type BSE. When L-type BSE was inoculated into ovine transgenic mice and Syrian hamster the resulting molecular fingerprint had changed, either in the first or a subsequent passage, from L-type into C-type BSE. In addition, non-human primates are specifically susceptible for atypical BSE as demonstrated by an approximately 50% shortened incubation time for L-type BSE as compared to C-type. Considering the current scientific information available, it cannot be assumed that these different BSE types pose the same human health risks as C-type BSE or that these risks are mitigated by the same protective measures.


http://www.prionetcanada.ca/detail.aspx?menu=5&dt=293380&app=93&cat1=387&tp=20&lk=no&cat2




please see full text ;

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Atypical BSE in Cattle


http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2010/03/atypical-bse-in-cattle-position-post.html




2009 UPDATE ON ALABAMA AND TEXAS MAD COWS 2005 and 2006


http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2006/08/bse-atypical-texas-and-alabama-update.html




Monday, October 19, 2009

Atypical BSE, BSE, and other human and animal TSE in North America Update October 2009


http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2009/10/atypical-bse-bse-and-other-human-and.html




CJD TEXAS 38 YEAR OLD FEMALE WORKED SLAUGHTERING CATTLE EXPOSED TO BRAIN AND SPINAL CORD MATTER



>>> Up until about 6 years ago, the pt worked at Tyson foods where she worked on the assembly line, slaughtering cattle and preparing them for packaging. She was exposed to brain and spinal cord matter when she would euthanize the cattle. <<<




Irma Linda Andablo CJD Victim, she died at 38 years old on February 6, 2010 in Mesquite Texas Irma Linda Andablo CJD Victim, she died at 38 years old on February 6, 2010 in Mesquite Texas.She left 6 Kids and a Husband.The Purpose of this web is to give information in Spanish to the Hispanic community, and to all the community who want's information about this terrible disease.-


Physician Discharge Summary, Parkland Hospital, Dallas Texas Admit Date: 12/29/2009

Discharge Date: 1/20/2010


Attending Provider: Greenberg, Benjamin Morris; General Neurology Team: General Neurology Team


Linda was a Hispanic female with no past medical history presents with 14 months of incresing/progressive altered mental status, generalized weakness, inability to walk, loss of appetite, inability to speak, tremor and bowel/blader incontinence.She was, in her usual state of health up until February, 2009, when her husbans notes that she began forgetting things like names and short term memories. He also noticed mild/vague personality changes such as increased aggression. In March, she was involved in a hit and run MVA,although she was not injured. The police tracked her down and ticketed her. At that time, her son deployed to Iraq with the Army and her husband assumed her mentation changes were due to stress over these two events. Also in March, she began to have weakness in her legs, making it difficult to walk. Over the next few months, her mentation and personality changes worsened, getting to a point where she could no longer recognized her children. She was eating less and less. She was losing more weight. In the last 2-3 months, she reached the point where she could not walk without an assist, then 1 month ago, she stopped talking, only making grunting/aggressive sounds when anyone came near her. She also became both bowel and bladder incontinent, having to wear diapers. Her '"tremor'" and body jerks worsened and her hands assumed a sort of permanent grip position, leading her family to put tennis balls in her hands to protect her fingers. The husband says that they have lived in Nebraska for the past 21 years. They had seen a doctor there during the summer time who prescribed her Seroquel and Lexapro, Thinking these were sx of a mood disorder. However, the medications did not help and she continued to deteriorate clinically. Up until about 6 years ago, the pt worked at Tyson foods where she worked on the assembly line, slaughtering cattle and preparing them for packaging. She was exposed to brain and spinal cord matter when she would euthanize the cattle. The husband says that he does not know any fellow workers with a similar illness. He also says that she did not have any preceeding illness or travel.


http://www.recordandoalinda.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19:cjd-english-info&catid=9:cjd-ingles&Itemid=8



>>> Up until about 6 years ago, the pt worked at Tyson foods where she worked on the assembly line, slaughtering cattle and preparing them for packaging. She was exposed to brain and spinal cord matter when she would euthanize the cattle. <<<



please see full text ; Monday, March 29, 2010


Irma Linda Andablo CJD Victim, she died at 38 years old on February 6, 2010 in Mesquite Texas


http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2010/03/irma-linda-andablo-cjd-victim-she-died.html



CJD TEXAS 38 YEAR OLD FEMALE WORKED SLAUGHTERING CATTLE EXPOSED TO BRAIN AND SPINAL CORD MATTER



http://cjdtexas.blogspot.com/2010/03/cjd-texas-38-year-old-female-worked.html



USA sporadic CJD cases rising ; There is a growing number of human CJD cases, and they were presented last week in San Francisco by Luigi Gambatti(?) from his CJD surveillance collection. He estimates that it may be up to 14 or 15 persons which display selectively SPRPSC and practically no detected RPRPSC proteins.


http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/06/transcripts/1006-4240t1.htm


http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/06/transcripts/2006-4240t1.pdf


CJD USA RISING, with UNKNOWN PHENOTYPE ; 5 Includes 41 cases in which the diagnosis is pending, and 17 inconclusive cases; 6 Includes 46 cases with type determination pending in which the diagnosis of vCJD has been excluded.


http://www.cjdsurveillance.com/pdf/case-table.pdf


Friday, February 05, 2010


New Variant Creutzfelt Jakob Disease case reports United States 2010 A Review


http://vcjd.blogspot.com/2010/02/new-variant-creutzfelt-jakob-disease.html


Saturday, January 2, 2010 Human Prion Diseases in the United States January 1, 2010 ***FINAL***


http://prionunitusaupdate2008.blogspot.com/2010/01/human-prion-diseases-in-united-states.html



Archive Number 20100405.1091 Published Date 05-APR-2010 Subject PRO/AH/EDR> Prion disease update 1010 (04)

snip...

[Terry S. Singeltary Sr. has added the following comment:


"According to the World Health Organisation, the future public health threat of vCJD in the UK and Europe and potentially the rest of the world is of concern and currently unquantifiable. However, the possibility of a significant and geographically diverse vCJD epidemic occurring over the next few decades cannot be dismissed.


The key word here is diverse. What does diverse mean? If USA scrapie transmitted to USA bovine does not produce pathology as the UK c-BSE, then why would CJD from there look like UK vCJD?"


http://www.promedmail.org/pls/apex/f?p=2400:1001:568933508083034::NO::F2400_P1001_BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,82101



see mad cow feed ban violations ;

Monday, March 8, 2010 UPDATE 429,128 lbs. feed for ruminant animals may have been contaminated with prohibited material Recall # V-258-2009 Greetings,

I got a follow on this in the mail this past Saturday in the mail. thought some might be interested in the following ;

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES Public Health Service Food and Drug Administration Rockville MD 20857

Terry Singeltary P.O. box 42. Bacliff, TX USA 77518

Dear Requestor

In reply refer to: F2009-7430


http://madcowfeed.blogspot.com/2010/03/update-429128-lbs-feed-for-ruminant.html



Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Animal Proteins Prohibited in Ruminant Feed/Adulterated/Misbranded Rangen Inc 2/11/10 USA


http://madcowfeed.blogspot.com/2010/03/animal-proteins-prohibited-in-ruminant.html




Monday, March 1, 2010

ANIMAL PROTEIN I.E. MAD COW FEED IN COMMERCE A REVIEW 2010


http://madcowfeed.blogspot.com/2010/03/animal-protien-ie-mad-cow-feed-in.html



TEST ! TEST ! TEST !

TEST all food producing animals for humans and animal for all strains of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy, and they will come $$$


Friday, August 29, 2008

CREEKSTONE VS USDA COURT OF APPEALS, BUSH SAYS, NO WAY, NO HOW

http://madcowtesting.blogspot.com/2008/08/creekstone-vs-usda-court-of-appeals.html




BUT, THE TESTING MUST BE DONE CORRECTLY ;



Owner and Corporation Plead Guilty to Defrauding Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Surveillance Program

An Arizona meat processing company and its owner pled guilty in February 2007 to charges of theft of Government funds, mail fraud, and wire fraud. The owner and his company defrauded the BSE Surveillance Program when they falsified BSE Surveillance Data Collection Forms and then submitted payment requests to USDA for the services. In addition to the targeted sample population (those cattle that were more than 30 months old or had other risk factors for BSE), the owner submitted to USDA, or caused to be submitted, BSE obex (brain stem) samples from healthy USDA-inspected cattle. As a result, the owner fraudulently received approximately $390,000. Sentencing is scheduled for May 2007.

snip...

Topics that will be covered in ongoing or planned reviews under Goal 1 include:

soundness of BSE maintenance sampling (APHIS),

implementation of Performance-Based Inspection System enhancements for specified risk material (SRM) violations and improved inspection controls over SRMs (FSIS and APHIS),

snip...

The findings and recommendations from these efforts will be covered in future semiannual reports as the relevant audits and investigations are completed.

4 USDA OIG SEMIANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS FY 2007 1st Half


http://www.usda.gov/oig/webdocs/sarc070619.pdf



snip... please see full text ;


http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2008/06/mad-cows-and-computer-models-us.html





----- Original Message -----

From: Williams, Monica

To: flounder9@verizon.net

Cc: Williams, Monica

Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 7:21 AM

Subject: Freedom of Information Act Request


Terry Singeltary Sr.:

This is to acknowledge receipt of your May 10, 2010, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request concerning the results for Research Project Number: 3625-32000-086-05, Study of Atypical BSE at the Virus and Prion Research Unit. Your request was received in this office on May 11, 2010, and assigned FOIA No. 10-93, with a response date of June 9, 2010.

If you have any questions, concerning the status of your request, please contact this office at 301-504-1640 or by e-mail at reefoia@ars.usda.gov.

Monica Williams

FOIA Office, REE USDA

5601 Sunnyside Avenue

Room 1-2226C, Mail Stop 5128

Beltsville, MD 20705-5128

reefoia@ars.usda.gov

Telephone: 301-504-1640

Facsimile: 301-504-1647



From: Terry S. Singeltary Sr. [mailto:flounder9@verizon.net]

Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2010 5:29 PM

To: USDAfoia@da.usda.gov

Cc: phyllis.fong@oig.usda.gov; FOIASTAFF@oig.usda.gov; Public Affairs; Tips, HHS

Subject: F.O.I.A. re-Publication Request Project Number: 3625-32000-086-05 Study of Atypical Bse


Greetings OIE USDA FOIA et al;


I have made numerous attempts at finding the results of the following study with absolutely no luck or reply.

So I suppose I must make a F.O.I.A. request on the following ;




re-F.O.I.A. re-Publication Request Project Number: 3625-32000-086-05 Study of Atypical Bse




----- Original Message -----

From: flounder9@verizon.net

To: webmaster@ars.usda.gov

Cc: flounder9@verizon.net

Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 2010 6:43 AM

Subject: From ARS Web Site: PUBLICATION REQUEST


Message:


Greetings,


Publication Request Project Number: 3625-32000-086-05 Study of Atypical Bse

the study below said that the end date was Sep 14, 2009.



can you now tell me please what those results were, and if it will be necessary to change SRM removal due to any different tissue infectivity distribution ?



could you please supply me with the results of this study ?




Research Project: Study of Atypical Bse Location: Virus and Prion Research Unit Project Number: 3625-32000-086-05

Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement Start Date: Sep 15, 2004 End Date: Sep 14, 2009

Objective: The objective of this cooperative research project with Dr. Maria Caramelli from the Italian BSE Reference Laboratory in Turin, Italy, is to conduct comparative studies with the U.S. bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) isolate and the atypical BSE isolates identified in Italy. The studies will cover the following areas: 1. Evaluation of present diagnostics tools used in the U.S. for the detection of atypical BSE cases. 2. Molecular comparison of the U.S. BSE isolate and other typical BSE isolates with atypical BSE cases. 3. Studies on transmissibility and tissue distribution of atypical BSE isolates in cattle and other species. Approach: This project will be done as a Specific Cooperative Agreement with the Italian BSE Reference Laboratory, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, in Turin, Italy. It is essential for the U.S. BSE surveillance program to analyze the effectiveness of the U.S diagnostic tools for detection of atypical cases of BSE. Molecular comparisons of the U.S. BSE isolate with atypical BSE isolates will provide further characterization of the U.S. BSE isolate. Transmission studies are already underway using brain homogenates from atypical BSE cases into mice, cattle and sheep. It will be critical to see whether the atypical BSE isolates behave similarly to typical BSE isolates in terms of transmissibility and disease pathogenesis. If transmission occurs, tissue distribution comparisons will be made between cattle infected with the atypical BSE isolate and the U.S. BSE isolate. Differences in tissue distribution could require new regulations regarding specific risk material (SRM) removal.


http://www.ushrl.saa.ars.usda.gov/research/projects/projects.htm?accn_no=408490




Greetings again O.I.G. et al ;




I find it disturbing that we are still floundering with public health in 2010 on this issue, especially since we know that ;



>>> non-human primates are specifically susceptible for atypical BSE as demonstrated by an approximately 50% shortened incubation time for L-type BSE as compared to C-type. Considering the current scientific information available, it cannot be assumed that these different BSE types pose the same human health risks as C-type BSE or that these risks are mitigated by the same protective measures. <<<



BUT yet the USDA et al is still floundering on these results, and still base trade on these OIE standards that in all reality, put the cart before the horse in regards to the legal trading of these atypical BSE and scrapie strains, before any transmission studies were done that would prove the same thing that happened in the U.K. with c-BSE and nvCJD, would not happen again.


http://www.prionetcanada.ca/detail.aspx?menu=5&dt=293380&app=93&cat1=387&tp=20&lk=no&cat2



14th International Congress on Infectious Diseases H-type and L-type Atypical BSE

January 2010 (special pre-congress edition)

18.173 page 189


Experimental Challenge of Cattle with H-type and L-type Atypical BSE


A. Buschmann1, U. Ziegler1, M. Keller1, R. Rogers2, B. Hills3, M.H. Groschup1. 1Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany, 2Health Canada, Bureau of Microbial Hazards, Health Products & Food Branch, Ottawa, Canada, 3Health Canada, Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Secretariat, Ottawa, Canada


Background: After the detection of two novel BSE forms designated H-type and L-type atypical BSE the question of the pathogenesis and the agent distribution of these two types in cattle was fully open. From initial studies of the brain pathology, it was already known that the anatomical distribution of L-type BSE differs from that of the classical type where the obex region in the brainstem always displays the highest PrPSc concentrations. In contrast in L-type BSE cases, the thalamus and frontal cortex regions showed the highest levels of the pathological prion protein, while the obex region was only weakly involved.

Methods:We performed intracranial inoculations of cattle (five and six per group) using 10%brainstemhomogenates of the two German H- and L-type atypical BSE isolates. The animals were inoculated under narcosis and then kept in a free-ranging stable under appropriate biosafety conditions.

At least one animal per group was killed and sectioned in the preclinical stage and the remaining animals were kept until they developed clinical symptoms. The animals were examined for behavioural changes every four weeks throughout the experiment following a protocol that had been established during earlier BSE pathogenesis studies with classical BSE.

Results and Discussion:

All animals of both groups developed clinical symptoms and had to be euthanized within 16 months. The clinical picture differed from that of classical BSE, as the earliest signs of illness were loss of body weight and depression. However, the animals later developed hind limb ataxia and hyperesthesia predominantly and the head. Analysis of brain samples from these animals confirmed the BSE infection and the atypical Western blot profile was maintained in all animals. Samples from these animals are now being examined in order to be able to describe the pathogenesis and agent distribution for these novel BSE types.


Conclusions: A pilot study using a commercially avaialble BSE rapid test ELISA revealed an essential restriction of PrPSc to the central nervous system for both atypical BSE forms. A much more detailed analysis for PrPSc and infectivity is still ongoing.



http://www.isid.org/14th_icid/

http://ww2.isid.org/Downloads/IMED2009_AbstrAuth.pdf

http://www.isid.org/publications/ICID_Archive.shtml



14th ICID International Scientific Exchange Brochure - Final Abstract Number: ISE.114

Session: International Scientific Exchange


Transmissible Spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) animal and human TSE in North America update October 2009

T. Singeltary

Bacliff, TX, USA

Background: An update on atypical BSE and other TSE in North America. Please remember, the typical U.K. c-BSE, the atypical l-BSE (BASE), and h-BSE have all been documented in North America, along with the typical scrapie's, and atypical Nor-98 Scrapie, and to date, 2 different strains of CWD, and also TME. All these TSE in different species have been rendered and fed to food producing animals for humans and animals in North America (TSE in cats and dogs ?), and that the trading of these TSEs via animals and products via the USA and Canada has been immense over the years, decades.

Methods: 12 years independent research of available data

Results: I propose that the current diagnostic criteria for human TSEs only enhances and helps the spreading of human TSE from the continued belief of the UKBSEnvCJD only theory in 2009. With all the science to date refuting it, to continue to validate this old myth, will only spread this TSE agent through a multitude of potential routes and sources i.e. consumption, medical i.e., surgical, blood, dental, endoscopy, optical, nutritional supplements, cosmetics etc.

Conclusion: I would like to submit a review of past CJD surveillance in the USA, and the urgent need to make all human TSE in the USA a reportable disease, in every state, of every age group, and to make this mandatory immediately without further delay. The ramifications of not doing so will only allow this agent to spread further in the medical, dental, surgical arena's. Restricting the reporting of CJD and or any human TSE is NOT scientific. Iatrogenic CJD knows NO age group, TSE knows no boundaries. I propose as with Aguzzi, Asante, Collinge, Caughey, Deslys, Dormont, Gibbs, Gajdusek, Ironside, Manuelidis, Marsh, et al and many more, that the world of TSE Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy is far from an exact science, but there is enough proven science to date that this myth should be put to rest once and for all, and that we move forward with a new classification for human and animal TSE that would properly identify the infected species, the source species, and then the route.


see page 114 ;


http://ww2.isid.org/Downloads/14th_ICID_ISE_Abstracts.pdf



Sent: Friday, April 16, 2010 11:38 AM


Subject: PRO-MED ATYPICAL SCRAPIE


Background ----------- "Retrospective studies have identified cases predating the initial identification of this form of scrapie, and epidemiological studies have indicated that it does not conform to the behaviour of an infectious disease, giving rise to the hypothesis that it represents spontaneous disease. However, atypical scrapie isolates have been shown to be infectious experimentally, through intracerebral inoculation in transgenic mice and sheep. [Many of the neurological diseases can be transmitted by intracerebral inoculation, which causes this moderator to approach intracerebral studies as a tool for study, but not necessarily as a direct indication of transmissibility of natural diseases. - Mod.TG] "The 1st successful challenge of a sheep with 'field' atypical scrapie from an homologous donor sheep was reported in 2007.

"Results -------- "This study demonstrates that atypical scrapie has distinct clinical, pathological, and biochemical characteristics which are maintained on transmission and sub-passage, and which are distinct from other strains of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in the same host genotype.

"Conclusions ------------ Atypical scrapie is consistently transmissible within AHQ homozygous sheep, and the disease phenotype is preserved on sub-passage." Lastly, this moderator wishes to thank Terry Singletary for some of his behind the scenes work of providing citations and references for this posting. - Mod.TG]


The HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of Australia is available at . - Sr.Tech.Ed.MJ]


http://www.promedmail.org/pls/otn/f?p=2400:1001:962575216785367::NO::F2400_P1001_BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,81729




Archive Number 20100405.1091 Published Date 05-APR-2010


Subject PRO/AH/EDR> Prion disease update 1010 (04)

snip...

[Terry S. Singeltary Sr. has added the following comment:

"According to the World Health Organisation, the future public health threat of vCJD in the UK and Europe and potentially the rest of the world is of concern and currently unquantifiable. However, the possibility of a significant and geographically diverse vCJD epidemic occurring over the next few decades cannot be dismissed.



The key word here is diverse. What does diverse mean? If USA scrapie transmitted to USA bovine does not produce pathology as the UK c-BSE, then why would CJD from there look like UK vCJD?"



http://www.promedmail.org/pls/apex/f?p=2400:1001:568933508083034::NO::F2400_P1001_BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,82101





Monday, March 29, 2010



CJD TEXAS 38 YEAR OLD FEMALE WORKED SLAUGHTERING CATTLE EXPOSED TO BRAIN AND SPINAL CORD MATTER



>>> Up until about 6 years ago, the pt worked at Tyson foods where she worked on the assembly line, slaughtering cattle and preparing them for packaging. She was exposed to brain and spinal cord matter when she would euthanize the cattle. <<<




http://recordandoalinda.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19&Itemid=8





http://www.recordandoalinda.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2:frontpage&catid=1:frontpage




Wednesday, April 28, 2010

BSE, Scrapie, CWD, REPORT OF THE MEETING OF THE OIE TERRESTRIAL ANIMAL HEALTH STANDARDS COMMISSION Paris, 8-12 February 2010

REPORT OF THE MEETING OF THE OIE TERRESTRIAL ANIMAL



http://usdameatexport.blogspot.com/2010/04/bse-scrapie-cwd-report-of-meeting-of.html








Thank You!



Kindest Regards,

terry



Terry S. Singeltary Sr.

P.O. Box 42

Bacliff, Texas USA 77518

Whistleblower Testifies Against USDA

March 5, 2010

Whistleblower Testifies Against USDA

Dr. Dean Wyatt says the USDA retaliated against him for trying to enforce the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act

“Food integrity and humane handling whistleblowers should not have to rely on an undercover video investigation in order for USDA supervisors to take their disclosures seriously.”—Dr. Wyatt

In testimony before a House subcommittee hearing on March 4, Dr. Dean Wyatt, public health veterinarian for the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the USDA, expressed frustration about the USDA’s lack of support for inspectors who are “just trying to do their job” to protect animal welfare and food safety.

In his testimony, Dr. Wyatt said USDA officials not only overturned his recommendations, siding with slaughter plants in violation of federal law, but also personally retaliated against him for trying to enforce the law. Dr. Wyatt, who has been with the USDA for 18 years, was reprimanded and threatened with termination by his supervisors after reporting repeated violations of the USDA’s Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA).

Wyatt spoke about suspending operations at the Bushway Packing slaughter plant in Vermont on three occasions for improper handling of animals; each time district officials for the Agency reopened the plant and allowed it to continue without addressing humane handling concerns. Violations included dragging a “downed” calf unable to stand off a truck by the hind leg and dragging a days-old calf through a holding pen. In another instance, Wyatt described an Agency official changing the wording in a written report to suggest an animal had been “dropped” rather than thrown off of a truck.

After an undercover video investigation was conducted by The HSUS at the Bushway Packing plant, the USDA closed the plant for violations of the HMSA. A criminal investigation into conduct at the slaughterhouse is underway.

Thursday’s hearing coincided with the release by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of a report that encouraged stronger enforcement of the HMSA. Specific recommendations included establishing “clear and specific” criteria for suspending plant operations; improving standards for compliance; and taking a closer look at noncompliance reports.

Under the HMSA, FSIS inspectors are charged with overseeing humane handling of animals and with conducting fecal contamination checks to prevent contaminated meat from entering the food supply. Animals too sick to stand or walk are prohibited from entering the food supply due to the potential threat of mad cow disease.

In 2008, an HSUS investigation into the processing of downed cows at the Hallmark Meat Packing slaughter plant in Chino, Calif. led the USDA to close the plant and recall 143 million pounds of beef. The Chino plant was the second largest supplier of beef to the nation’s school lunch program.

Stanley Painter, representing the union of government food inspection workers (National Joint Council of Food Inspection Local Unions), testified that he concurred with Dr. Wyatt’s assessment that the USDA did not provide adequate support or training for inspectors at the nation’s slaughter plants.

Speaking before the subcommittee, Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, said he was heartened by the new Administration’s willingness to take humane concerns seriously. He went on to say that slaughter plant violations are chronic: “Every time we have looked, we have found problems.”

Pacelle recommended that the USDA create its own mobile investigations unit and enforce a policy of “zero percent tolerance” for abuses and inhumane handling, citing the billions of animals and hundreds of millions of consumers who rely on the USDA for proper enforcement of the HMSA.

Pacelle also called on the USDA to close the loophole on downer calves. The Obama Administration closed the loophole on downer cows following The HSUS’s Hallmark investigation, but a loophole that applies to young animals still exists.

In his closing remarks, subcommittee chairman Dennis Kucinich thanked Dr. Wyatt for his public service and his courage to blow the whistle on the USDA, as well as The HSUS for sharing the results of its undercover investigations. Citing its conflicts of interest, Kucinich encouraged the USDA to do more to protect consumers and promised to continue to press for changes that will lead to greater consumer confidence in the USDA.

http://humanesociety.org/news/news/2010/whistleblower_reports_USDA_failures.html


Humane Methods of Slaughter Act: Actions Are Needed to Strengthen Enforcement.

GAO-10-203, February 19

http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-10-203


Highlights -

http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d10203high.pdf


OTHER WRITTEN PRODUCT

Humane Methods of Slaughter Act: USDA Inspectors' Views on Enforcement (GAO-10-244SP), February 2010, an E-supplement to GAO-10-203.

GAO-10-244SP, February 19

http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-10-244SP


TESTIMONY

Humane Methods of Slaughter Act: Weaknesses in USDA Enforcement.

GAO-10-487T, March 4

http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-10-487T


TAFS

How are cattle stunned?

In recent times cattle would be stunned by means of a gun, from which a bolt was driven through the skull and into the brain. This renders the animal unconscious. In some abattoirs, penetrative stunning would be followed by “pithing”. This involves passing a flexible rod through the hole in the skull, and down the spinal canal. It is, or was, done primarily to protect the operators responsible for bleeding the cattle. It did so by destroying spinal reflexes controlling the front limbs, and prevented reflex kicking. In larger abattoirs with greater mechanisation of procedures, more rapid stunning and bleeding operations frequently make this an unnecessary procedure. Smaller abattoirs, with greater dependence on manual labour, and slower speeds of operation, may still find pithing to be necessary. Pithing has actually been banned in Europe.

A variant of this method was used in some countries. In this method the flexible rod was replaced by the injection of air through the bolt and stun hole into the skull. This effectively pithed the animal. This is now illegal in the European Union.

An alternative form of stunning, called percussion stunning, applies the stun to the outside of the skull without penetrating the skull.

In some abattoirs electrical stunning is used. In other words the cattle may be electrocuted.

How can stunning increase risk to consumers from BSE?

There is some research evidence that suggests that penetrative stunning, with or without pithing, can cause some brain tissue to enter the blood stream. Although such a risk was demonstrated many years ago by artificially contaminating the stun bolt or pithing rod with bacteria, recent studies have specifically demonstrated trace amounts of brain material in the blood of some animals immediately following stunning(2-5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 21, 24).

The injection of air through the stun bolt has the potential to significantly increase the risk. Occasionally, samples of brain material, visible to the naked eye, have been identified lodged in tissues that receive blood after passing through the heart (usually lodged in lung or occasionally liver)(14, 15, 20, 27).

In these circumstances, the methods of stunning have the potential if used on BSE-infected animals, to drive some infectivity into the blood stream. The extent of contamination of the rest of the carcase by this means has not been demonstrated. As mentioned above, with the exception of extremely small particles of brain, most would become lodged in organs such as the lung.

Penetrative stunning also has the potential to expose the meat of the head (and indeed operators) to brain tissue that exudes from the hole, either on the pithing rod or subsequently after removal of the head.

Carriage of heads to specialist plants where the meat from the head is removed (boning-out plants) can compound the likelihood of contamination if several heads are in contact. Following removal of the head, leakage of cerebro-spinal fluid, which bathes the brain and has not been shown to be infectious in BSE cases, has the theoretical potential to cause further cross-contamination.

TAFS

Is it only the stunning process that represents a risk?

No. In the majority of abattoirs it is normal practice to split the carcase in order make handling easier, and to supply traditional cuts of meats to the retail and manufacturing trade. This is also required to ensure that the whole carcase can be inspected to ensure that it is fit for human consumption. Splitting normally involves sawing the spinal column in half along its length. This also frequently cuts through the spinal cord. If the animal is infected with BSE, the spinal cord must be assumed to be as infectious as the brain(7, 11, 13, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22).

It is therefore inevitable that a certain amount of spinal cord tissue is spread along the cut surface of the spinal column by the saw. In addition there will be a certain amount of spray contamination of the surface of the carcase, but research into this aspect is ongoing(6, 11, 18, 25, 28).

14. Garland, T, Bauer, N. & Bailey, M.Jr. (1996). Brain emboli in the lungs of cattle after stunning (letter). Lancet. 348: 610.

15. Garland, Tam. (1996). Brain emboli in the lungs of cattle (reply to K C Taylor). Lancet. 348: 749.

20. Munro R. (1997). Neural tissue embolism in cattle. Veterinary Record. 140, N20, 536.

21. Prendergast, D.M., Sheridan, J.J., Daly, D.J., McDowell, D.A. & Blair, I.S. (2003). Dissemination of central nervous system tissue from the brain and spinal cord of cattle after captive bolt stunning and carcass splitting. Meat Science. 65:1201-1209.

27. Taylor, K.C. (1996). Brain emboli in the lungs of cattle. Lancet. 348: 749

http://www.tseandfoodsafety.org/position_papers/TAFS_POSITION_PAPER_ON%20SLAUGHTER%202009.pdf


WHY is it that some of you folks are more worried about animal abuse (which i do not condone), but yet you will allow your children, all across the Nation, be fed the most high risk cattle for mad cow disease and other dangerous pathogens via the NSLP. For over 4 years, dead stock downer cows were fed to our children all across the Nation. But yet it seems that most are more concerned about how the animals are treated before slaughter. What about our children ? WE apparently just turn our heads on a disease that is in THE USA, has been, still is, sCJD rising, this is disease is of long incubation, but yet once clinical, it is 100% fatal. who will watch our children over the next 5 decades for CJD, or does anyone care ?

The PrP TSE mad cow agent in humans can incubate up to 50+ years in some cases, in other cases, not so long. so, come back in 50+ years and confirm this. junk science, industry friendly regulations, and or just not complying with existing regulations have been rampant over the past 12 years I have been paying attention, it has been the norm. maybe sound science will prevail in the end, maybe not. but feeding children diseased and sick cows via the NSLP was flat wrong, and anyone that thinks the largest beef recall there from, was just because a few animals were abused, well, they too are just flat wrong as well. ...

WHO WILL WATCH THE CHILDREN FOR CJD OVER THE NEXT 5 + DECADES ???

Do you actually believe that the USDA et al jumped in on the law suit against Westland/Hallmark, at the time the largest beef recall in USA history, just because a few animals were abused on a video, or to cover their ass, for letting our children, from school district to school district, from state to state, be fed dead stock downer cows.

>>>In the papers, the government alleges the meatpacking plant slaughtered and processed downer cows for nearly four years — from January 2004 to September 2007 — at the average rate of one every six weeks... <<<


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2009/09/suit-meatpacker-used-downer-cows-for-4.html


Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Congress to Sample School Lunches


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2009/12/congress-to-sample-school-lunches.html



Do you actually believe all these schools recalled this meat because of a few cattle being abused,


see list ; FNS All Regions Affected School Food Authorities By State United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service National School Lunch Program March 24, 2008 School Food Authorities Affected by Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. Beef Recall February 2006 - February 2008


http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/safety/Hallmark-Westland_byState.pdf


IF url does not work above, go to this link to find out if any of your children and their school were part of this recall ; go to this site ;


http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/


left hand corner search ; Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. Beef Recall your should get this ;


http://65.216.150.153/texis/search?pr=FNS


1 through 1 of 1 matching documents, best matches first. sort by date 1: Hallmark - Westland SFA Reporting by State - 3-24-2008.xls Lunch Program March 24, 2008 School Food Authorities Affected by Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. Beef Recall February 2006 - February 2008 The U.S. Department of Agriculture ...


http://www.fns.usda.gov/...ety/Hallmark-Westland_byState.pdf


PLEASE SEE ALSO ;


Members of The HSUS are also concerned about the meat products provided to their children through the National School Lunch Program. More than 31 million school children receive lunches through the program each school day. To assist states in providing healthful, low-cost or free meals, USDA provides states with various commodities including ground beef. As evidenced by the HallmarkNVestland investigation and recall, the potential for downed animals to make their way into the National School Lunch Program is neither speculative nor hypothetical.



http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/cases/FDA/hsus-v-schafer-usda-complaint.pdf



Over the next 8-10 weeks, approximately 40% of all the adult mink on the farm died from TME. snip... The rancher was a ''dead stock'' feeder using mostly (>95%) downer or dead dairy cattle...


http://web.archive.org/web/20030516051623/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/mb/m09/tab05.pdf



CJD USA RISING, with UNKNOWN PHENOTYPE ;

5 Includes 41 cases in which the diagnosis is pending, and 17 inconclusive cases; 6 Includes 46 cases with type determination pending in which the diagnosis of vCJD has been excluded.

http://www.cjdsurveillance.com/pdf/case-table.pdf



Saturday, January 2, 2010

Human Prion Diseases in the United States January 1, 2010 ***FINAL***


http://prionunitusaupdate2008.blogspot.com/2010/01/human-prion-diseases-in-united-states.html



my comments to PLosone here ;


http://www.plosone.org/annotation/listThread.action?inReplyTo=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fannotation%2F04ce2b24-613d-46e6-9802-4131e2bfa6fd&root=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fannotation%2F04ce2b24-613d-46e6-9802-4131e2bfa6fd



Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Animal Proteins Prohibited in Ruminant Feed/Adulterated/Misbranded Rangen Inc 2/11/10 USA


http://madcowfeed.blogspot.com/2010/03/animal-proteins-prohibited-in-ruminant.html



Monday, March 1, 2010

ANIMAL PROTEIN I.E. MAD COW FEED IN COMMERCE A REVIEW 2010


http://madcowfeed.blogspot.com/2010/03/animal-protien-ie-mad-cow-feed-in.html



14th ICID International Scientific Exchange Brochure -

Final Abstract Number: ISE.114

Session: International Scientific Exchange

Transmissible Spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) animal and human TSE in North America

update October 2009

T. Singeltary

Bacliff, TX, USA

Background:

An update on atypical BSE and other TSE in North America. Please remember, the typical U.K. c-BSE, the atypical l-BSE (BASE), and h-BSE have all been documented in North America, along with the typical scrapie's, and atypical Nor-98 Scrapie, and to date, 2 different strains of CWD, and also TME. All these TSE in different species have been rendered and fed to food producing animals for humans and animals in North America (TSE in cats and dogs ?), and that the trading of these TSEs via animals and products via the USA and Canada has been immense over the years, decades.

Methods:

12 years independent research of available data

Results:

I propose that the current diagnostic criteria for human TSEs only enhances and helps the spreading of human TSE from the continued belief of the UKBSEnvCJD only theory in 2009. With all the science to date refuting it, to continue to validate this old myth, will only spread this TSE agent through a multitude of potential routes and sources i.e. consumption, medical i.e., surgical, blood, dental, endoscopy, optical, nutritional supplements, cosmetics etc.

Conclusion:

I would like to submit a review of past CJD surveillance in the USA, and the urgent need to make all human TSE in the USA a reportable disease, in every state, of every age group, and to make this mandatory immediately without further delay. The ramifications of not doing so will only allow this agent to spread further in the medical, dental, surgical arena's. Restricting the reporting of CJD and or any human TSE is NOT scientific. Iatrogenic CJD knows NO age group, TSE knows no boundaries. I propose as with Aguzzi, Asante, Collinge, Caughey, Deslys, Dormont, Gibbs, Gajdusek, Ironside, Manuelidis, Marsh, et al and many more, that the world of TSE Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy is far from an exact science, but there is enough proven science to date that this myth should be put to rest once and for all, and that we move forward with a new classification for human and animal TSE that would properly identify the infected species, the source species, and then the route.


http://ww2.isid.org/Downloads/14th_ICID_ISE_Abstracts.pdf


see page 114


International Society for Infectious Diseases Web: http://www.isid.org

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Human Prion Diseases in the United States January 1, 2010 ***FINAL***


http://prionunitusaupdate2008.blogspot.com/2010/01/human-prion-diseases-in-united-states.html



my comments to PLosone here ;


http://www.plosone.org/annotation/listThread.action?inReplyTo=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fannotation%2F04ce2b24-613d-46e6-9802-4131e2bfa6fd&root=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fannotation%2F04ce2b24-613d-46e6-9802-4131e2bfa6fd



Friday, February 05, 2010

New Variant Creutzfelt Jakob Disease case reports United States 2010 A Review


http://vcjd.blogspot.com/2010/02/new-variant-creutzfelt-jakob-disease.html



Sunday, February 14, 2010

[Docket No. FSIS-2006-0011] FSIS Harvard Risk Assessment of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)


http://bseusa.blogspot.com/2010/02/docket-no-fsis-2006-0011-fsis-harvard.html



Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Transmissible Spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) animal and human TSE in North America 14th

ICID International Scientific Exchange Brochure -

http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2010/02/transmissible-spongiform-encephalopathy.html



TSE

http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

NOR-98 ATYPICAL SCRAPIE USA 4 CASES DETECTED JANUARY 2010


http://nor-98.blogspot.com/2010/03/nor-98-atypical-scrapie-usa-4-cases.html



Friday, March 5, 2010

Fatal Transmissible Amyloid Encephalopathy: A New Type of Prion Disease Associated with Lack of Prion Protein Membrane Anchoring


http://betaamyloidcjd.blogspot.com/2010/03/fatal-transmissible-amyloid.html




TSS

School Food Safety Program Based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Principles (HACCP); Approval of Information Collection Request

Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 11:32 AM
Subject: School Food Safety Program Based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Principles (HACCP); Approval of Information Collection Request



[Federal Register: February 24, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 36)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 8239]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24fe10-1]


========================================================================
Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents
having general applicability and legal effect, most of which are keyed
to and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is published
under 50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by the Superintendent of Documents.
Prices of new books are listed in the first FEDERAL REGISTER issue of each
week.

========================================================================



[[Page 8239]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service

7 CFR Parts 210 and 220

[FNS-2008-0033]
RIN 0584-AD65


School Food Safety Program Based on Hazard Analysis and Critical
Control Point Principles (HACCP); Approval of Information Collection
Request

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule; approval of information collection request.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------




SUMMARY: The final rule entitled School Food Safety Program Based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Principles (HACCP) was published on December 15, 2009, which implemented a legislative provision requiring school food authorities participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or the School Breakfast Program (SBP) to develop a school food safety program for the preparation and service of school meals served to children. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) cleared the associated information collection requirements (ICR) on November 2, 2009. This document announces approval of the ICR.

DATES: The ICR associated with the final rule published in the Federal Register on December 15, 2009, at 74 FR 66213, was approved by OMB on December 30, 2009, under OMB Control Number 0584-0550.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lynn Rodgers-Kuperman, Chief, Program Analysis and Monitoring Branch, Child Nutrition Division, Food and Nutrition Service, USDA, 3101 Park Center Drive, Room 640, Alexandria, Virginia 22302, (703) 305-2600, or Lynn.Rogers@fns.usda.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The December 15, 2009 (74 FR 66213), final rule implemented a legislative provision which requires school food authorities participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) or the School Breakfast Program (SBP) to develop a school food safety program for the preparation and service of school meals served to children. The school food safety program must be based on the (HACCP) system established by the Secretary of Agriculture. The food safety program enables schools to take systematic action to prevent or minimize the risk of food-borne illness among children participating in the NSLP and SBP. The information collection requirements were approved by OMB on December 30, 2009.



Dated: February 4, 2010.
Julia Paradis,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-3476 Filed 2-23-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P



http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-3476.htm



Foodborne Disease Outbreaks in United States Schools: Discussion


Discussion

Between 1973 and 1997, >600 foodborne disease outbreaks in schools were reported to CDC. These outbreaks resulted in nearly 50 000 illnesses, >1500 hospitalizations and 1 death. This represents ~5% of all foodborne disease outbreaks and 12% of all outbreak-associated cases reported to CDC. The three most commonly identified etiologic agents were Salmonella, S. aureus and C. perfringens. The percentage of outbreaks of known etiology due to Salmonella serotype Enteritidis increased over the surveillance period, whereas the percentage caused by S. aureus decreased. Other notable trends include an 8-fold decrease in the percentage of outbreaks due to turkey, a 3-fold increase in outbreaks linked to salads and a decline in the number of milk-associated outbreaks. Whether these changes reflect variation in the relative safety of these items, a change in dietary habits or both cannot be determined with certainty from these data. Nevertheless some of the changes may be attributed to fewer tours of milk dairies and raw milk tastings and a large increase in the number of salads consumed.

The majority of outbreaks with known vehicles were caused by foods prepared on school premises. Therefore prevention efforts should focus on school-based interventions. Practices identified as contributing to outbreaks in schools include improper refrigeration, prolonged handling and inadequate reheating of cooked foods.[7] Following established food safety guidelines on food preparation, handling, storage and service can greatly reduce the risk of foodborne disease outbreaks.[13-15] All meat and poultry should be thoroughly cooked, cooked foods not used immediately should be rapidly chilled to refrigeration temperature (<40°f)>160°F), that the temperature of egg-containing products be carefully monitored and that devices used to mix or prepare raw eggs be regularly disassembled, cleaned and sanitized. Pasteurized eggs should be used for all meals requiring large quantities of pooled eggs and are the best choice for all recipes containing eggs.

Several outbreaks in schools have been attributed to contamination of food by food-handlers who worked while ill[6, 11] or had poor personal hygiene.[17, 18] In our review of reported foodborne outbreaks in school, 57% of outbreaks were attributed to likely contamination by a food-handler. The adoption of a work policy that includes paid leave for food handlers with gastroenteritis would probably increase compliance with illness-related work exclusion policies. Training and certifying all food handlers in school cafeterias in specific techniques, such as good personal hygiene, adequate hand washing, proper cooling and reheating of foods and methods of preventing cross-contamination between cooked and raw foods, would also likely reduce the incidence of foodborne disease outbreaks.[19]

In addition to promoting proper food handling and hygiene practices among school employees, it is important that schools purchase foodstuffs that have been produced safely. Purchase contracts for meat, poultry and eggs often have not stipulated food safety criteria.[20] Requiring such foods to be produced under Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) or egg quality assurance plans that meet microbiologic performance requirements would be an important addition to school food safety. During school year 2000 the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which annually purchases >100 million pounds of beef products for the National School Lunch Program and other federal food and nutrition programs, began requiring that ground beef purchased through the program test negative for both E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella.[21] However, USDA directly provides only a small percentage of food served in schools. School food authorities purchase 83% of the food served in school lunch programs and all of the food served in school breakfast programs.[20] Additional efforts to assure the purchase of safe food stuffs may be an important step, although the extent to which this would increase the risk of foodborne outbreaks in schools is not clear. Recent US declines in Salmonella and Campylobacter are credited to the mandated HACCP rule for meat and poultry. The changes in incidence of foodborne infections have occurred in the context of the introduction of the HACCP regulations for meat and poultry in processing plants, increased attention to egg and fresh produce safety, industry efforts, food safety education, increased regulation of imported food and other prevention measures.[22]

The risk of outbreaks caused by bacterial and parasitic pathogens could be further reduced through the broader application of irradiation pasteurization of solid foods using low-dose gamma rays, radiographs or electron beams.[23-25] Although widespread use of this technology has been hampered by the perception of consumer concerns,[26] the use of irradiation to pasteurize food has been endorsed by the World Health Organization, the US Department of Health and Human Services, the USDA, the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association.[26-29] Irradiation pasteurization of meat and poultry used in schools would be an important further step in reducing outbreaks caused by to bacterial pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella. Because viral foodborne pathogens such as hepatitis A and Norwalk-like viruses are more radioresistant, irradiation pasteurization is less likely to prevent outbreaks due to these pathogens.

The limitations of our report should be recognized. The number of foodborne outbreaks reported by this passive surveillance system represents only a small proportion of those that occur. Foodborne outbreaks caused by an etiologic agent with a short incubation period (e.g. bacterial toxins) are more likely to be recognized as common source outbreaks than are diseases with longer incubation periods (e.g. hepatitis A). Furthermore our report likely underestimates the proportion of viral gastroenteritis outbreaks in schools, because stool and serum testing of specimens for viral pathogens (e.g. Norwalk-like viruses) is not widely available, making confirmation of these outbreaks more difficult. Outbreaks caused by organisms that are not routinely screened for by laboratories or that require special media for detection, such as E. coli O157:H7, Norwalk-like viruses, Vibrio species, Yersinia, C. perfringens and Campylobacter may be underrepresented. In addition testing of some organisms (e.g. E. coli O157:H7, Norwalk-like viruses, enzyme immunoassay for Giardia and toxin testing) became available during the course of the time period covered in this review. Information on the size and other characteristics of affected schools was not available. Other limitations include lack of information about how factors contributing to outbreak were determined and lack of information on the specific school setting (e.g. elementary school, high school or university). A recently published primer directed to primary care physicians, who are more likely to see the index case of a potential food-related disease outbreak, is a teaching tool for primary care physicians about foodborne illness and to remind them of their important role in recognizing suspicious symptoms, disease clusters and etiologic agents and reporting cases of foodborne illness to public health authorities.[30]

Relative to the number of meals served in America's schools, the number of reported outbreaks of foodborne illness may appear relatively small. Nevertheless the cumulative disease burden on this vulnerable population is considerable. Adequate training of school staff and the integration of food safety criteria into purchase contracts are measures that can be immediately employed to reduce the burden of foodborne disease among school children. Investigations of foodborne disease outbreaks in schools and continued outbreak surveillance are needed to identify trends in disease frequency, to detect the emergence of new causes of foodborne illness and to ensure the highest standards of food safety for school children in America.

Foodborne disease websites: www.cdc.gov/foodnet, http://www.foodsafety.gov/, http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/,
www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/foodborneinfections
and http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/outbreak/default.htm.






http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/439841_4








Q: You've been very vocal about your belief that HACCP [Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points] systems employed by the meat industry are 'a hoax.' If you were writing the meat safety rules, what would they look like?

A: Number one, HACCP was advertised as being science-based, and it is not. HACCP was designed by Pillsbury 20-30 years ago. They were making fully-cooked, ready-to-eat food for the astronaut program and it had to be guaranteed safe. Well, those were highly-processed, fully-cooked ready-to-eat-foods--the pathogens would be cooked out--they all had a real "kill step."

Well, the USDA saw the HACCP program and thought, 'Gee, that sounds really good. Lets apply that meat inspection.' The problem is the vast majority of what we process in meat plants is not fully-cooked, ready-to-eat, it is raw.

The USDA shouldn't use the term HACCP unless the products they are working with are fully cooked.

Number two, when the agency required the industry to implement HACCP, the agency said that under the program the USDA's role would be hands-off. That is an absolute disaster.

The USDA cannot be hands-off.

Under the transition to HACCP, the USDA knowingly acquiesced its authority back to the industry. It's an absolute disaster waiting to happen.

The natural long-term consequences of the agency adopting a hands-off, non-involvement role is ongoing outbreaks and recurring recalls all the time now.

HACCP cannot work in the raw meat industry.

I really think that meat inspection should be moved from the USDA, and that a separate agency should be created to perform inspection of not only meat and poultry but also produce, which is currently assigned to the FDA.



http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2009/11/qa-with-meatpacking-maverick-munsell/index.html?p=2






A: I say it's embarassing, because it should be embarassing to the USDA that, in spite of their "science-based" meat inspection program we have all these ongoing outbreaks and recalls. It should also be embarrassing to our industry.

It's been 11 year since the biggest packers implemented the HACCP program. You'd think that by this point the program would be maturing and paying dividends, but in fact it's going the opposite direction.

We've got to finally realize that the consuming pubic are going to see through this--this façade. At times I wonder if the word "embarrassing" is not the right word. The overarching, more important concern is food safety and sick consumers and people who are dying.

People are dying. A lot of people are getting sick, this should be an embarrassment to this industry, and to the USDA.



http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2009/11/qa-with-meatpacking-maverick-munsell/




From: TSS

Subject: Food Safety and Inspection Service Assessment of the Equivalence of the Canadian Inspection System Report No: 24601-05-HY OIG

Date: January 12, 2006 at 7:22 am PST



Audit Report

Food Safety and Inspection Service

Assessment of the Equivalence of the

Canadian Inspection System

Report No. 24601-05-Hy December 2005

snip...

Executive Summary

Food Safety and Inspection Service Assessment of the Equivalence of the Canadian Inspection System (Audit Report No. 24601-05-Hy)

Results in Brief We evaluated the Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) assessment of the equivalence of the Canadian inspection system for meat and poultry products. In a November 6, 2003, memorandum, the FSIS Administrator and the Under Secretary for Food Safety identified serious concerns with the Canadian inspection system. They noted in the memorandum that these concerns had the potential for compromising public health. We found FSIS did not timely address these serious concerns. For example, in July 2003, FSIS identified that Canadian inspection officials were not enforcing certain pathogen reduction and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system regulations. These same types of concerns were identified again in June 2005, almost 2 years later.

Timely actions were not taken because FSIS does not have protocols or guidelines for evaluating deficiencies in a country’s inspection system that could jeopardize a country’s overall equivalence determination. In addition, FSIS did not institute compensating controls (e.g., increased port-of-entry testing) to ensure that public health was not compromised while deficiencies were present. Over 4.4 billion pounds of Canadian processed product entered U.S. commerce from January 1, 2003 through May 31, 2005. In FSIS’ information system, the products were categorized as cuts and trimmings of raw product as well as products with additional processing from pork, veal, beef, poultry, and lamb. These products were produced and allowed to be exported to the United States even though FSIS officials questioned the equivalence of the Canadian inspection system.

FSIS regulations1 require foreign inspection systems to provide standards equivalent to those of the United States. These requirements include the implementation of sanitation controls and HACCP requirements. Sanitation controls cover all aspects of facility and equipment sanitation, the prevention of actual or potential instances of product cross-contamination, good personal hygiene practices, and good product handling and storage practices. All plants must develop, adopt, and implement a HACCP plan for each of their processes. Under HACCP, plants identify critical control points during their processes where hazards such as microbial contamination can occur, establish controls to prevent or reduce those hazards, and maintain records documenting that controls are working as intended.

In July 2003, as part of an onsite review, FSIS identified serious concerns with the Canadian inspection system. These concerns included the

1 Title 9, Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) § 327.2 (a) (2) and 9 C.F.R. § 381.196 (a) (2), January 1, 2005 edition.

USDA/OIG-Audit No. 24601-05-Hy Page ii

insufficient implementation of sanitation controls and HACCP requirements by establishments and the lack of enforcement in these areas by Canadian inspection officials. Based on these concerns, FSIS proposed an enforcement review in 2004. (Enforcement reviews can lead to a determination that a country’s system is not equivalent to U.S. standards and, thus, not eligible to export to the United States). The proposed 2004 enforcement review was not conducted and FSIS officials did not reassess Canada’s implementation and enforcement of sanitation controls and HAACP requirements until almost 2 years later. When FSIS officials finally returned to Canada in May 2005, they continued to find the same types of deficiencies they had found in 2003. FSIS should analyze the deficiencies identified in the 2003 and 2005 reviews to determine whether immediate actions are needed to address concerns regarding public health and if additional enforcement measures are needed.

FSIS’ analysis of the regulations governing the Canadian inspection system identified two areas which may not be equivalent to the United States inspection system. FSIS found that Canadian policy allowed less than daily inspection coverage in processing establishments. By contrast, FSIS has a long established history of requiring the presence of an inspector in a U.S. processing establishment at least once per shift per day. FSIS also identified differences in the testing performed for Listeria monocytogenes. Canadian inspection officials require establishments to perform risk-based environmental sampling, as opposed to the finished product sampling required by FSIS.

In a management alert to the FSIS Administrator in July 2005, we reported that FSIS had not taken timely action to resolve the agency’s June 2003 finding that Canada does not require daily inspection coverage at processing establishments that export product to the United States. In addition, FSIS’ actions regarding Canadian processing establishments were not consistent with how the agency treated similarly situated countries. When FSIS identified less than daily inspection in establishments in Australia in June 2004, and in Belgium in July 2003, the establishments were immediately delisted and no longer allowed to export product to the United States. According to FSIS officials, Australia and Belgium did not pursue an equivalence determination, which was pursued by Canada. In response to our recommendations, FSIS agreed to initiate a number of actions to ensure that an equivalence determination was made regarding daily inspection coverage. However, FSIS asserted that a final decision could not be made until 2007. In the interim, FSIS agreed to implement measures that the agency believes will ensure there is no increased risk to the public health in the United States. These measures included doubling the sampling of Canadian shipments and increasing the presence of Canadian inspection officials in processing establishments exporting to the United States.

USDA/OIG-Audit No. 24601-05-Hy Page iii

Recommendation

In Brief FSIS needs to develop and implement protocols for postponing or canceling a scheduled enforcement review and for determining which equivalence deficiencies would call into question a country’s overall equivalence to U.S. standards. In addition, FSIS should analyze the deficiencies identified in the 2003 and 2005 reviews of the Canadian inspection system to determine whether additional actions are needed to address concerns regarding public health. Finally, FSIS needs to develop an action plan for determining whether the Canadian inspection system control for Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat products is equivalent to that of the United States.

Agency Response

FSIS agreed with the report’s recommendations. We have incorporated the agency’s response in the Findings and Recommendations section of this report, along with the OIG position. The response is included as Exhibit A.

OIG Position

Based on the response, we were able to reach management decision on the report’s five recommendations.

snip...

however, these reviews did not focus on the differences identified in 2003. These two reviews primarily evaluated the implementation of FSIS’ requirements related to BSE. In December 2004, FSIS officials performed a review of 15 Canadian establishments that slaughtered cattle and calves for export to the United States. This review found that Canadian establishments implemented FSIS’ requirements for BSE and controlled the use of hormone implants in calves. In February 2005, FSIS officials visited two Canadian beef slaughter establishments and three establishments that processed this product. This review found that

USDA/OIG-Audit No. 24601-05-Hy Page 8

7 Specified risk materials are prohibited from use for human food. The materials include the brain, skull, eyes, trigeminal ganglia, spinal cord, vertebral column (excluding the vertebrae of the tail, the traverse processes of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, and the wings of the sacrum), dorsal root ganglia of cattle 30 months of age and older, tonsils, and distal ileum of the small intestine of all cattle.

Canadian inspection officials adequately implemented FSIS’ rules regarding BSE and specified risk materials.7

• Serious Concerns Continue in 2005. In May 2005, FSIS initiated a more thorough examination of the Canadian inspection system. FSIS visited 35 establishments, which included 3 meat slaughter establishments, 21 meat and poultry processing establishments, and 11 meat and poultry establishments that had both slaughter and processing operations. FSIS also evaluated operations for residue and microbiological testing at 12 laboratories. The review was completed in June 2005, and FSIS officials continued to find a number of deficiencies that call into question the equivalence of the Canadian inspection system. As in 2003, the deficiencies included the insufficient implementation of sanitation controls and HACCP requirements by establishments and the lack of enforcement in these areas by Canadian inspection officials. FSIS officials noted, but did not report, less than daily inspection at 17 processing establishments.

- In 21 of the 35 establishments, FSIS officials found that the Canadian inspection system did not have adequate sanitation controls. FSIS continued to find that Canadian establishments did not ensure sanitation controls were adequately implemented or evaluated for effectiveness. In addition, the establishments did not take corrective actions when sanitation controls failed to prevent direct product contamination or adulteration and did not maintain daily records of these activities.

- FSIS officials found that Canadian inspection officials did not implement certain HACCP requirements in 19 of the 35 establishments. FSIS again found that Canadian establishments were deficient in validating their HACCP plans, documenting corrective actions, and reassessing the adequacy of the plans.

- As part of the review of specific establishments, FSIS again evaluated whether Canadian inspection officials adequately enforced FSIS requirements. FSIS officials found that the Canadian inspection system did not have adequate controls to ensure FSIS requirements were enforced. FSIS officials identified deficiencies in the areas of sanitation controls and HACCP requirements that had not been previously noted by Canadian inspection officials. This condition occurred in 29 of the 35 establishments visited by FSIS officials.

USDA/OIG-Audit No. 24601-05-Hy Page 9

In 2003, FSIS identified concerns which caused the agency to question the equivalence of the Canadian inspection system and to express concern about U.S. public health. The same types of concerns were identified in the review completed in June 2005. FSIS should analyze the deficiencies identified in the 2003 and 2005 reviews to determine whether immediate actions are needed to address concerns regarding public health and if additional enforcement measures are needed.

• Less Than Daily Inspection in Processing Establishments. ...

snip...

http://www.usda.gov/oig/webdocs/24601-05-HY.pdf



Greetings,

question please, i do no understand the part that ;

This review found that

USDA/OIG-Audit No. 24601-05-Hy Page 8



>>> Canadian inspection officials adequately implemented FSIS’ rules regarding BSE and specified risk materials.7<<<


To: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov

Cc: ggraber@cvm.fda.gov; Linda.Grassie@fda.gov; BSE-L



Subject: Docket No. 2003N-0312 Animal Feed Safety System [TSS SUBMISSION TO DOCKET 2003N-0312]



Greetings FDA, my name is Terry S. Singeltary Sr., i lost my mother to hvCJD (Heidenhain Variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease). i would kindly like to comment on the proposed HACCP method of detecting and or preventing TSEs in the human/animal feed supply. it seems to me by implementing something that was designed for Astronauts instead of cattle, something that the GAO has already stated is terribly flawed (HACCP), i find it very disturbing to continue to insist on refusing to use rapid TSE TESTING in sufficient numbers to find TSEs, as with other Countries that they too once thought they were BSE free. for example, it took Italy 1 MILLION rapid TSE tests since 2001 to find 102 cases of BSE. THE USA has only tested 48,000 cattle in the 14 years of surveillance. there is documented proof that indeed the USA cattle have been infected with a TSE for decades, but the FDA/USDA and other USA Gov. agencies continue to conveniently ignore these findings. YOU must not ignore what Richard Marsh found. Plus, you must not ignore Asante/Collinge new findings 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. The USA has been feeding ruminant by-products back to cattle, deer, elk and sheep for decades, and TSEs in these species have been recycled for feed for decades in the USA. The rendering process here in the USA will not kill this agent. to implement any HACCP over massive rapid TSE testing is only prolonging the inevitable, and will only allow the agent to spread further. it is simply a band-aid approach to something that needs a tourniquet... 3. Meat and Poultry: Better USDA Oversight and Enforcement of Safety Rules Needed to Reduce Risk of Foodborne Illnesses. GAO-02-902, August 30. FSIS Is Not Ensuring that Plants' HACCP Plans Meet Regulatory Requirements


snip...


According to FSIS's food safety systems correlation reviews, inspectors are not consistently identifying and documenting failures of plants' HACCP plans to meet regulatory requirements. Furthermore, FSIS does not expect its inspectors to determine whether HACCP plans are based on sound science--the cornerstone of an effective plan. While in-depth verification reviews examine the scientific aspects of HACCP plans, they have been conducted in very few plants, and consumer safety officers hired to review the scientific soundness of HACCP plans may take several years to assess the plans at all plants. Moreover, inspectors in 55 percent of the 5,000 plants nationwide did not document any HACCP violations during fiscal year 2001. When we brought this information to the attention of FSIS officials, they were surprised that so many plants had no HACCP violations for an entire year.


snip...


2. USDA believes that the title of the report is misleading. We disagree. We believe the title accurately reflects the concerns detailed throughout the body of the report.


snip...


http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-02-902


http://www.gao.gov/new.items/rc00255.pdf



FDA acknowledges that it has not yet identified and inspected all firms subject to the ban” pg. 3 ;


http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02183.pdf



The report concludes that “federal actions do not sufficiently ensure that all BSE-infected animals or products are kept out or that if BSE were found it would be detected promptly and not spread to other cattle through animal feed or enter the human food chain” italics added pg. 3 ;


http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02183.pdf



and why does everybody conveniently ignore these findings;



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



To be published in the Proceedings of the Fourth International Scientific Congress in Fur Animal Production. Toronto, Canada, August 21-28, 1988

Evidence That Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy Results from Feeding Infected Cattle



R.F. Marsh* and G.R. Hartsough •Department of Veterinary Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706; and ^Emba/Creat Lakes Ranch Service, Thiensville, Wisconsin 53092


ABSTRACT



Epidemiologic investigation of a new incidence of transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME) in Stetsonville, Wisconsin suggests that the disease may have resulted from feeding infected cattle to mink. This observation is supported by the transmission of a TME-like disease to experimentally inoculated cattle, and by the recent report of a new bovine spongiform encephalopathy in England. INTRODUCTION ....snip...end...TSS



http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/03n0312/03N-0312_emc-000001.txt



NSLP USDA CERTIFIED DEAD STOCK DOWNER COW SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM


>>>Question #1: How many kids have died from a pathogen outbreak involving ground beef that is dervied from the NSLP? Answer: ZERO<<<



>In the papers, the government alleges the meatpacking plant slaughtered and processed downer cows for nearly four years — from January 2004 to September 2007 — at the average rate of one every six weeks<




http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2009/09/suit-meatpacker-used-downer-cows-for-4.html



Wednesday, December 16, 2009 Congress to Sample School Lunches


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2009/12/congress-to-sample-school-lunches.html



Do you actually believe all these schools recalled this meat because of a few cattle being abused,

see list ;



FNS All Regions Affected School Food Authorities By State United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service National School Lunch Program March 24, 2008 School Food Authorities Affected by Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. Beef Recall February 2006 - February 2008



http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/safety/Hallmark-Westland_byState.pdf



IF url does not work above, go to this link to find out if any of your children and their school were part of this recall ;


go to this site ;


http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/


left hand corner search ; Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. Beef Recall your should get this ;


http://65.216.150.153/texis/search?pr=FNS


1 through 1 of 1 matching documents, best matches first. sort by date 1: Hallmark - Westland SFA Reporting by State - 3-24-2008.xls Lunch Program March 24, 2008 School Food Authorities Affected by Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. Beef Recall February 2006 - February 2008 The U.S. Department of Agriculture ...


http://www.fns.usda.gov/...ety/Hallmark-Westland_byState.pdf



PLEASE SEE ALSO ;



Members of The HSUS are also concerned about the meat products provided to their children through the National School Lunch Program. More than 31 million school children receive lunches through the program each school day. To assist states in providing healthful, low-cost or free meals, USDA provides states with various commodities including ground beef. As evidenced by the HallmarkNVestland investigation and recall, the potential for downed animals to make their way into the National School Lunch Program is neither speculative nor hypothetical.



http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/cases/FDA/hsus-v-schafer-usda-complaint.pdf



Over the next 8-10 weeks, approximately 40% of all the adult mink on the farm died from TME. snip... The rancher was a ''dead stock'' feeder using mostly (>95%) downer or dead dairy cattle...


http://web.archive.org/web/20030516051623/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/files/mb/m09/tab05.pdf




PLEASE be aware, for 4 years, the USDA fed our children all across the Nation dead stock downer cows, the most high risk cattle for BSE aka mad cow disease and other dangerous pathogens. who will watch our children for CJD for the next 5+ decades ???


SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM FROM DOWNER CATTLE UPDATE


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2009/05/who-will-watch-children.html


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/



please see full text here ;

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

SEAC EFFECT OF AGE ON THE PATHOGENESIS OF TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHIES SEAC 103/2


http://downercattle.blogspot.com/2009/11/seac-effect-of-age-on-pathogenesis-of.html



Saturday, January 2, 2010

Human Prion Diseases in the United States January 1, 2010 ***FINAL***


http://prionunitusaupdate2008.blogspot.com/2010/01/human-prion-diseases-in-united-states.html


my comments to PLosone here ;


http://www.plosone.org/annotation/listThread.action?inReplyTo=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fannotation%2F04ce2b24-613d-46e6-9802-4131e2bfa6fd&root=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fannotation%2F04ce2b24-613d-46e6-9802-4131e2bfa6fd



Friday, February 05, 2010

New Variant Creutzfelt Jakob Disease case reports United States 2010 A Review


http://vcjd.blogspot.com/2010/02/new-variant-creutzfelt-jakob-disease.html



Sunday, February 14, 2010

[Docket No. FSIS-2006-0011] FSIS Harvard Risk Assessment of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)


http://bseusa.blogspot.com/2010/02/docket-no-fsis-2006-0011-fsis-harvard.html



Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Transmissible Spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) animal and human TSE in North America
14th ICID International Scientific Exchange Brochure -


14th ICID International Scientific Exchange Brochure -

Final Abstract Number: ISE.114

Session: International Scientific Exchange

Transmissible Spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) animal and human TSE in North America

update October 2009

T. Singeltary

Bacliff, TX, USA

Background:

An update on atypical BSE and other TSE in North America. Please remember, the typical U.K. c-BSE, the atypical l-BSE (BASE), and h-BSE have all been documented in North America, along with the typical scrapie's, and atypical Nor-98 Scrapie, and to date, 2 different strains of CWD, and also TME. All these TSE in different species have been rendered and fed to food producing animals for humans and animals in North America (TSE in cats and dogs ?), and that the trading of these TSEs via animals and products via the USA and Canada has been immense over the years, decades.

Methods:

12 years independent research of available data

Results:

I propose that the current diagnostic criteria for human TSEs only enhances and helps the spreading of human TSE from the continued belief of the UKBSEnvCJD only theory in 2009. With all the science to date refuting it, to continue to validate this old myth, will only spread this TSE agent through a multitude of potential routes and sources i.e. consumption, medical i.e., surgical, blood, dental, endoscopy, optical, nutritional supplements, cosmetics etc.

Conclusion:

I would like to submit a review of past CJD surveillance in the USA, and the urgent need to make all human TSE in the USA a reportable disease, in every state, of every age group, and to make this mandatory immediately without further delay. The ramifications of not doing so will only allow this agent to spread further in the medical, dental, surgical arena's. Restricting the reporting of CJD and or any human TSE is NOT scientific. Iatrogenic CJD knows NO age group, TSE knows no boundaries. I propose as with Aguzzi, Asante, Collinge, Caughey, Deslys, Dormont, Gibbs, Gajdusek, Ironside, Manuelidis, Marsh, et al and many more, that the world of TSE Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy is far from an exact science, but there is enough proven science to date that this myth should be put to rest once and for all, and that we move forward with a new classification for human and animal TSE that would properly identify the infected species, the source species, and then the route.

http://ww2.isid.org/Downloads/14th_ICID_ISE_Abstracts.pdf


International Society for Infectious Diseases Web: http://www.isid.org/



http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2010/02/transmissible-spongiform-encephalopathy.html



Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy


http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/




TSS