Special Edition
USDA Announces Inconclusive BSE Test Result
(Thursday, November 18, 2004) - Early Thursday morning, the United States Department of Agriculture was notified of an inconclusive test result identified via the enhanced BSE surveillance program. Because this is simply an inconclusive test result identified using a rapid BSE screening test, USDA is not releasing any information regarding the location of the test or information about the animal. Tissues samples are being sent to USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa for confirmatory testing. Results from those tests are expected in 4 to 7 days.
These sort of inconclusive test results are expected to occur, and do not mean the U.S. has identified another case of BSE. Rapid BSE screening tests are intended to be extremely sensitive, and have a certain rate of inconclusive results. This finding is the result of the first of a two-part test process. To test a significant number of targeted animals, the government's first step uses a rapid screening test, which can produce inconclusive results as it did with this animal. The second step is now under way with the sample going to USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa. NVSL has the capability to use the gold standard immunohistochemistry (IHC) test to determine the presence of BSE.
It is possible that immunohistochemistry testing will confirm that this animal did not have BSE. As with testing for bovine tuberculosis and other diseases, inconclusive results and false positives are normal occurrences. The United States Department of Agriculture has tested over 113,000 samples. This is the third inconclusive test result of those 113,000+ samples. The first two inconclusive results were announced in June and were both confirmed negative.
It is important to note that no portion of this animal entered the food or feed chain, and our longstanding firewalls against the introduction and spread of BSE will continue to keep the food supply safe.
USDA’s press statement is posted below, and is also available at www.usda.gov. In addition, daily results from USDA’s daily BSE testing log at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/bse-enhan_surv/bse_test_results.html.
Of course, excellent information on BSE, testing procedures, and U.S. firewalls against the disease can be found at http://www.BSEinfo.org.
We will continue to monitor this situation. If you hear an inaccurate or inflammatory report in the media, please let MCA know immediately. If you have any questions or are contacted by the media, please contact me at anytime.
Brent Bryant
Executive Vice President
Missouri Cattlemen's Association
573-499-9162 Office
573-999-9965 Mobile
brent@mocattle.com E-mail
USDA Statement
by Andrea Morgan
Associate Deputy
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, U.S.
Department of Agriculture
“Early this
morning, we were notified that an inconclusive BSE test result was received on a
rapid screening test used as part of our enhanced BSE surveillance program.
“The inconclusive result does not mean we have found another case of
BSE in this country. Inconclusive results are a normal component of screening
tests, which are designed to be extremely sensitive so they will detect any
sample that could possibly be positive.
“Tissue samples are now being sent to USDA’s National Veterinary
Services Laboratories—the national BSE reference lab—which will run confirmatory
testing.
“Because this test is only an inconclusive test result, we are not disclosing details specific to this test at this time.
“APHIS has begun internal steps to begin initial tracebacks, if further testing were to return a positive result. However, it is important to note, that this animal did not enter the food or feed chain.
“Confirmatory results are expected back from NVSL
within the next 4 to 7 days. If the test comes back positive for BSE, we will
provide additional information about the animal and its origin.
“USDA remains confident in the safety of the U.S. beef supply. Our ban on specified risk materials from the human food chain provides the protection to public health, should another case of BSE ever be detected in the United States.
“Screening tests are often used in both human and animal health and inconclusives are not unexpected. These tests cast a very wide net and many end up negative during further testing.
“And some
subset of these animals may even turn out to be positive for BSE. While none of
us wants to see that happen, that is not unexpected either. Our surveillance
program is designed to test as many animals as we can in the populations that
are considered to be at high risk for BSE.
“Additional measures to strengthen public health safeguards include the longstanding ban on imports of live cattle, other ruminants, and most ruminant products from high-risk countries; FDA's 1997 prohibition on the use of most mammalian protein in cattle feed; an aggressive surveillance program that has been in place for more than a decade; the banning of non-ambulatory cattle from the human food chain; the process control requirement for establishments using advanced meat recovery (AMR) systems; prohibiting the air-injection stunning of cattle; and, if an animal presented for slaughter is sampled for BSE, holding the carcass until the test results have been confirmed negative.