December 11, 2005
Dece Japan's agriculture ministry was cited as saying Saturday that a cow that died on a farm in Chitose, Hokkaido Prefecture, earlier this week had bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the 21st mad cow disease case reported in Japan.The body of the cow was incinerated and meat from the carcass will not enter the market, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said.The Holstein cow, 5 years and 9 month old, died Tuesday of heart failure. Before being confirmed by the ministry as having BSE, it tested positive in two preliminary BSE tests a health organization in the prefecture conducted Thursday, officials said. LINK
Japan approves easing ban on Canadian and U.S. beef
An official from Japan's Agriculture Ministry was cited as confirming that Japan will ease the country's two-year-old ban on Canadian and U.S. beef imports beginning Monday, and that meat from cows under the age of 21 months will be allowed back into the Japanese market. LINK
Statement By Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns Regarding the Opening Of The Japanese Market To U.S. Beef"I'm very pleased to announce that the Japanese market is now open to U.S. beef products. Resuming beef trade with Japan is great news for American producers and Japanese consumers, as well as an important step toward normalized trade based on scientifically sound, internationally recognized standards. LINK
Scotland scientists: Feed bins source of ongoing BSE cases
December 16, 2005
Japan's Health Ministry was cited as saying that the first shipment of U.S. beef in nearly two years arrived in Japan Friday after the easing of an import ban put in place amid concerns about mad cow disease.Quarantine official Yuji Kitayama was cited as saying that Japanese inspectors planned to check the shipment of about 4.6 tons of meat to see that it met government safety guidelines, and they planned to confirm the age of the cows and ensure that the meat doesn't contain material from brains, spinal cords or other suspect parts.The story notes that Friday's shipment to Japan was processed at Selma, Calif.-based Harris Ranch Beef Co. and imported by Marudai Food Co., which said it will not sell the meat to consumers but use it for internal testing. LINK
December 23, 2005
Canadian beef on its way to JapanThe first shipment of Canadian beef to Japan following a two-and-a-half year absence leaves Canada today for arrival in Narita, Japan, tomorrow. LINK
January 4, 2006
An official at the Hokkaido Animal Research Center was cited as saying Wednesday that Japan may have succeeded for the first time in artificially triggering the onset of mad cow disease as several cows inoculated with abnormal prions have shown symptoms of the disease. LINK
January 10, 2006
Feed ban rulemaking reduxThe Associated Press broke a story last week that McDonald’s Corp. and several scientists were calling on the USDA to strengthen its feed ban to prevent the spread of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). McDonalds is calling for “FDA to provide a more comprehensive and protective feed ban, specified risk materials (SRMs) and deadstock must be removed from all animal feed and that legal exemptions which allow ruminant protein to be fed back to ruminants (with the exception of milk) should be discontinued.” LINK
January 13, 2006
S. Korea, U.S. reach beef imports dealSouth Korea and the United States reached an agreement Friday to partially end a ban on American beef prompted by fears of mad cow disease, the South Korean government said.South Korea said it agreed to resume imports of U.S. meat from calves under 30 months old, the government said in a statement. The agreement excludes the import of beef ribs, South Korea said. LINK
January 17, 2006
Singapore plans to lift import ban on U.S. beef Singapore was cited as saying Tuesday it is taking steps to end a ban on beef imports from the United States, two years after it suspended imports following detection of a case of mad cow disease in the state of Washington.U.S. beef accounted for about 5 percent of Singapore's beef imports prior to the ban.Singapore's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority "is finalizing with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on the operational details of the health certification program to facilitate the resumption of imports as soon as possible," the authority said in a statement. LINK
January 20, 2006
Japan to impose new ban on US beef: KoizumiPrime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was cited as saying Friday that Japan will ban US beef imports just one month after they resumed, after a shipment may have violated safety rules against mad cow disease, adding, "This is a pity given that imports had just resumed. I received the agriculture minister's report with his recommendation that the imports be halted and I think it is a good idea."The agriculture ministry was cited as saying a shipment Friday to Tokyo's Narita airport contained animals' spine, which was forbidden as a condition to resume beef imports.The stories say that the latest announcement came as a jarring setback for the U.S. meat industry and Bush administration officials, happening just as U.S. officials were talking optimistically of selling more beef in Asia despite some lingering import restrictions.The Agriculture Department had announced Thursday that Singapore officially ended a ban on American beef, following Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea, all of which reopened their markets in the past six weeks. LINK
January 21, 2006
Japanese stores pull U.S. beef off shelvesJapanese stores were cited as pulling U.S. beef products from their shelves amid renewed fears of mad cow disease on Saturday, a day after the government said a recent shipment from New York contained cattle parts that are a disease risk.Kyodo News agency was cited as reporting that Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe will lodge a formal protest with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick on Monday. Zoellick was scheduled to arrive in Japan on Saturday for talks on a range of political and economic issues. LINK
January 21, 2006
Alarmed US takes urgent action over new Japan beef banThe United States, alarmed at the loss of its biggest beef export market, was cited as taking rapid action Friday to assure Japan that its beef is safe after Tokyo re-imposed a ban just a month after lifting it.US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns was cited as announcing he was sending a team of experts to Japan, hours after the Japanese government announced that banned spinal material had been found in a consignment of US beef at Tokyo airport, and that under US regulations, the backbone, or vertebral column, that was exported to Japan is "not a specified risk material because it was in beef under 30 months," adding, "However, our agreement with Japan is to export beef with no vertebral column and we have failed to meet the terms of that agreement. While this is not a food safety issue, this is an unacceptable failure on our part to meet the requirements of our agreement with Japan. We take this matter seriously, recognizing the importance of our beef export market, and we are acting swiftly and firmly." LINK
January 22, 2006
Ottawa looks into possible mad cow caseMark Van Dusen, a spokesman for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, was cited as saying Sunday that federal agriculture inspectors are looking into the possibility of another case of mad cow disease, adding, "We have an ongoing testing program for BSE and that means from time to time we undertake confirmatory tests when we come up with a suspicious sample. We are undergoing such testing on a suspicious sample."Mr. Van Dusen was further cited as saying that the animal must go to a Winnipeg lab for final tests, that inspectors should know within 48 hours if they have another case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy on their hands, and that there are no indications that any part of the animal entered the human-food or animal-feed systems.The stories note that BSE has cost Canada's cattle industry more than $7-billion since 2003, and that Canada has a surplus of about 900,000 older-cull cattle that can't be shipped south because of lingering concerns they may harbour a risk of BSE.Mr. Van Dusen couldn't confirm the age of the animal currently being tested but said it is definitely older than 30 months, and that he is aware of rumours the animal is from Alberta. LINK
January 23, 2006
Japan to inspect all U.S. beef importsJapan has, according to this story, ordered inspections of all U.S. beef imported over the past month, calling for a full explanation of an American violation of the countries' beef pact.Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe was cited as saying no American beef would be allowed into Japan until Washington explains to Tokyo's satisfaction how the violation happened and what the United States will do to prevent a reccurence, adding, "As a safety measure, we have instructed the importing industries in Japan to do an independent inspection of all the U.S. beef that has already been imported to make sure that there are no dangerous parts included. LINK
January 23, 2006
BSE detected in AlbertaThe Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) today confirmed bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in an approximately six-year-old cross-bred cow born and raised in Alberta. No part of the animal entered the human food or animal feed systems. LINK
January 26, 2006
Johanns: No signs other countries will ban U.S. beefThere are no signs so far that other countries follow Japan's lead and close their borders to U.S. beef following the discovery last week of vertebrae parts in veal shipments sent from the United States to Japan, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Wednesday.Japanese officials, meanwhile, have indicated they are in no hurry to lift the ban imposed on U.S. beef last Friday. LINK
January 30, 2006
FDA approves BSE drug researchThe FDA recently gave approval to researchers at the University of California in San Francisco to study how drugs used to treat malaria and schizophrenia might work in treating brain-wasting disorders like Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), the human version of BSE. According to a Jan. 25 report in ConsumerAffairs.com, 36 patients with CJD will receive quinacrine and chlorpromazine. LINK
January 31, 2006
Japan official apologizes for inspections
Japan's farm minister was cited as acknowledging Monday before apologizing that the Japanese government failed to inspect U.S. cattle facilities before easing a ban on American beef prompted by concerns about mad cow disease, stating, "I apologize for not fulfilling the requirement to conduct inspections prior to the resumption. I will think about how to take responsibility for that," and that any decision on whether he should resign will be left up to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.But Nakagawa also defended his actions by saying it would have been impractical to evaluate compliance by the U.S. beef processors when shipments to Japan had not even resumed.Opposition lawmakers unsatisfied with his response walked out of the committee hearing. LINK
January 31, 2006
Tons of U.S. beef piled up in Japan
Tatsuo Iwama, executive director of Japan Meat Traders Association, was cited as saying that more than 2,000 tons of U.S. beef has piled up at Japanese customs warehouses after this month's renewed import ban.Beef and shipping costs for the importers were as much as 2 billion yen, or $17 million, he said.Most of the intended U.S. beef imports were high quality chilled beef, with the consumption date expiring within two months, Iwama said.The association plans to ask the government's help to arrange a deal so they can have the U.S. exporters take them back and cover the entire cost, he said LINK
February 1, 2006
Final CJD test results in: Woman died from classic form of brain disease
Final test results on brain tissue have confirmed another Idaho woman died from the classic form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.Tom Shanahan, spokesman for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, was quoted as saying on Tuesday that, "Test results showed it was not the variant form of CJD." LINK
February 1, 2006
Mexico opens market to U.S. bone-in beefSecretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns today announced that Mexico has resumed trade in U.S. bone-in beef from animals under 30 months of age. LINK
February 2, 2006
US-BeefThe USDA inspector general was cited as saying in a report Thursday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture auditors were unable to determine whether slaughterhouses and meat packers complied with rules to safeguard consumers from mad cow disease, stating, "We did not identify SRMs entering the food supply. However, due to the lack of adequate records, we could not determine whether SRM procedures were followed and/or were adequate in nine of 12 establishments visited during the audit. Several of the establishments did not comply with SRM plans/or maintain records to support that they follow their plans." LINK
February 8, 2006
US-BeefA recent government audit report released last week by the USDA inspector general was cited as finding that U.S. beef inspectors have failed to fully comply with rules banning cattle that are unable to walk to safeguard consumers from mad cow disease, leading at least 29 such animals, including 20 high-risk "downers," to reach the food chain.The failure angered some activist groups in the United States, blasting the U.S. Department of Agriculture for putting consumers at risk of the disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, despite a no-downer policy maintained for more than two years as a protective firewall against BSE. LINK
February 8, 2006
France discovers new case of mad cow disease
Local veterinary authorities were cited as saying on Tuesday that a bull in central France has tested positive for mad cow disease,.The Charolais from a large herd in the central Creuse department was slaughtered and steps were taken to track down 70 of its offspring. LINK
February 8, 2006
In June 2004, six months after the United States reported its first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in a cow in Washington State, the Agriculture Department (USDA) expanded its testing program for the brain-destroying disease. Up until then, other countries had criticized the United States for only testing a small fraction of the cattle presented for slaughter.This week, USDA’s Office of Inspector General released a review of the Department’s BSE enhanced-surveillance program, which has tested more than 605,000 cattle to date. LINK
February 9, 2006
45 Japan cows suspected of having mad cow
Officials were cited as saying Thursday that 45 cows at a farm in northern Japan are suspected of having mad cow disease and will be destroyed,.The cows are from a farm on the northern island of Hokkaido where a cow died last month of the disease -- Japan's 22nd mad cow case. Following the death, the Hokkaido government banned the farm from moving any of its more than 400 cows, said Osamu Terada, an official with Hokkaido prefecture. LINK
February 9, 2006
New case of transfusion-associated vCJD in the United Kingdom
A new case of probable variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) has recently been diagnosed in a patient in the United Kingdom (UK) who received a blood transfusion from a donor who later developed vCJD [1]. This patient, who is still alive and is under the care of doctors at the National Prion Clinic, is the third case of vCJD infection in the UK associated with transfusion [2].The first case of vCJD disease associated with blood transfusion was identified in December 2003 [3]. This patient developed vCJD six and a half years after receiving a transfusion of red blood cells donated by an individual who developed symptoms of vCJD three and a half years after donation [4]. LINK
February 10, 2006
Hokkaido cow with BSE was fed meat-and-bone mealA cow confirmed in January as Japan's 22nd case of mad cow disease was fed with meat-and-bone meal, the Hokkaido government said Thursday.The meal is generally considered to be the main source of transmission but Japan has not detected this cause of transmission in any of its domestic mad cow disease cases to date.The 5-year-and-4-month-old cow that died in January on a Hokkaido farm was fed with the meal until September 2001, before reaching 1 year old, according to the local government. LINK
February 12, 2006
The hard truths about mad cow: Top expert reveals much is yet unknown about the disease
Paris-based Jean-Philippe Deslys, one of the world's leading authorities on BSE and top researchers in the area of prions, the misfolded proteins linked to BSE, is part of an International Research Advisory Council which will provide strategic direction to the newly minted $35-million Alberta Prion Research Institute.Head of the Prion Group at the French Atomic Energy Commission, Deslys is also project coordinator for the European Network of Excellence or NeuroPrion, and is an advisor to the World Health Organization and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.Q: In Alberta we've had another case of BSE diagnosed recently in an animal born after the feed ban. I know the science says, based on what's happened in Scotland and elsewhere, that this is not unusual. LINKhttp://www.foodsafety.iastate.edu/news/archive.cfm
February 13, 2006
Japan's ruling party sending inspection team to U.S. beef facilitiesJapan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party said it is sending inspectors to U.S. beef facilities following reports from a senior agricultural official last week that downer cattle were slaughtered for human consumption at U.S. plants.Japanese Vice Farm Minister Mamoru Ishihara said the U.S. Department of Agriculture discovered that meat from 20 downer cattle -- animals who have difficulty walking, thought to be a symptom of mad cow disease -- were released into the market."The U.S. has said it wants to improve [inspection procedures]. We'd like to ask for an explanation as to what is going on," Ishihara said. He did not provide further details on the USDA report. LINK
February 13, 2006
Mad cow protein aids creation of brain cells
Few conditions are more detrimental to human brains than the one popularly referred to as mad cow disease. But now there's reason to suspect that the protein which, when malformed, causes bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cows and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in people, might also be necessary for healthy brain function. Researchers from Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital have discovered that the normal form of this detrimental protein may actually help the brain create neurons, those electricity-conducting cells that make cognition possible. LINK
February 15, 2006
Taiwan welcomes back U.S. beefFebruary 15, 2006MeatNewsAs U.S. beef makes its way back to Taiwan stores and restaurants, the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) has several activities planned to ensure its return is a welcomed one.Shipments of U.S. beef started arriving in Taiwan on Friday, Feb. 10. These shipments are the first to arrive since June, when Taiwan banned U.S. beef after the announcement of a second case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the United States. LINK
February 16, 2006
The Japanese government was cited as saying Thursday that the U.S. government has informed Japan that it has disqualified major U.S. meat packer Swift Beef Co.'s plant in Nebraska as a processor of beef for export to Japan due to a violation of procedures. LINK
February 16, 2006
Croatia says one cow tested positive for madcow disease : report
Croatia's veterinary institute said Thursday first tests had shown one cow in the east of the country to have contracted madcow disease, national television reported. LINK
February 17, 2006
Sludgewatch (Canada) writes that in Canada we have another confirmed case of mad cow disease.So when will the federal government take charge and stop the provincial governments from allowing land application of rendering wastes from plants that receive bovine high risk materials (spinal cord, brain)?When will the notorious Maple Leaf Foods, owners of Rothsay Rendering, stop land-applying rendering plant waste water sludges on pasture lands?The Truro Nova Scotia plant is spreading on Inglewood Farms to the ongoing despair of the neighbours.Indeed, any sewage sludge from a plant receiving bovine abattoir and rendering wastes can be spreading BSE on farm lands.This has got to stop. LINK
February 17, 2006
Two BSE cases detected in Ireland
Two more BSE cases have been identified in Ireland. They are in dairy cattle, aged 11 and 12 years in counties Clare and Galway.The total number of cases so far this year is 12.
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