Thoughts from Kansas

2

----- Original Message -----
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr."
To: "Agriculture Committee"
Cc: ; ; ;
; ;
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 4:48 PM
Subject: USDA VS CREEKSTONE BSE/BASE/TSE TESTING Civil Action No. 06-0544
(JR)

USDA Fights Court Decision
Approving BSE Tests
From Terry S. Singeltary Sr.
flounder9@verizon.net
5-30-7

To: agsec@usda.gov
Cc: john.clifford@aphis.usda.gov; usaha@usaha.org;
jmeng@cpfbeef.com;LAVET22@aol.com Phyllis.Fong@usda.gov
Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2007 2:07 PM
Subject: USDA VS CREEKSTONE BSE/BASE/TSE TESTING Civil Action No. 06-0544
(JR)

May 27, 2007

Honorable Michael Johanns
Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Room 200 Jamie Whitten Federal Building
Washington, D.C. 20250

CC

Honorable Judge James Robertson
U.S. District Court
333 Constitution Ave. North West
Washington, D. C. 20001

Subject: Request to let the Creekstone vs. USDA court decision stand.

Ref: Letter from United States Animal Health Association, dated May 22,
2007

Dear Mr. Secretary et al :

I am requesting that you allow the court decision in the Creekstone vs. USDA
to stand so that Creekstone may begin testing the beef they process for BSE
and or BASE and or any other TSE phenotype there of. WE must let them test
since the USDA et al refuse to do so properly. This is not to say that there
should be no strict TSE testing protocols. IF testing is to take place
privately, there must be strict TSE testing protocol to assure the most up
to date, sensitive, and validated tests are used, and used properly. These
tests must be announced to the public in a timely manner at every step of
the way, validated and confirmed by the federal government, Weybridge, and
an independent third party consumer organization and there TSE expert of
choice, in my opinion.

My mother died from a exceedingly rare strain of sporadic CJD i.e. the
Heidenhain Variant of CJD. My neighbors mother also lost his mother to a
form of sporadic CJD exactly one year previously from the day my mother
died. BOTH cases were confirmed by autopsy. There is new data out about the
BASE atypical BSE, which pathologically is more related to a phenotype of
sporadic CJD, than the nvCJD in humans from the UK. To continue to ignore
these scientific findings with the old UKBSEnvCJD only theory is not
justified by science anymore. It is not logical.

The logic behind the reasons not to let test for TSE in the USA because of
The Virus Serum Toxin Act of 1913 and or because of the recent letter from
the USAHA (see letter below) bring forth, are totally bogus. NO one could
screw the testing up any worse than the USDA has done in the past. The OIG
and the GAO has shown this time and time again. The 2004 Enhanced BSE
surveillance program where some 275,000+ cattle were tested for BSE was
proven to be terribly flawed from the beginning. This documented time and
time again. Even Paul Brown, known and respected TSE scientist, former TSE
expert for the CDC said he had ''absolutely no confidence in USDA tests
before one year ago'', and this was on March 15, 2006 ;

"The fact the Texas cow showed up fairly clearly implied the existence of
other undetected cases," Dr. Paul Brown, former medical director of the
National Institutes of Health's Laboratory for Central Nervous System
Studies and an expert on mad cow-like diseases, told United Press
International. "The question was, 'How many?' and we still can't answer
that."

Brown, who is preparing a scientific paper based on the latest two mad cow
cases to estimate the maximum number of infected cows that occurred in the
United States, said he has "absolutely no confidence in USDA tests before
one year ago" because of the agency's reluctance to retest the Texas cow
that initially tested positive.

USDA officials finally retested the cow and confirmed it was infected seven
months later, but only at the insistence of the agency's inspector general.

"Everything they did on the Texas cow makes everything USDA did before 2005
suspect," Brown said. ...snip...end

http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20060315-055557-1284r

CDC - Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy and Variant Creutzfeldt ... Dr. Paul
Brown is Senior Research Scientist in the Laboratory of Central Nervous
System ... Address for correspondence: Paul Brown, Building 36, Room 4A-05,
...

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol7no1/brown.htm

PAUL BROWN COMMENT TO ME ON THIS ISSUE

Tuesday, September 12, 2006 11:10 AM

"Actually, Terry, I have been critical of the USDA handling of the mad cow
issue for some years, and with Linda Detwiler and others sent lengthy
detailed critiques and recommendations to both the USDA and the Canadian
Food Agency."

OR, what the Honorable Phyllis Fong of the OIG found ;

Audit Report
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Surveillance Program � Phase II
and
Food Safety and Inspection Service

Controls Over BSE Sampling, Specified Risk Materials, and Advanced Meat
Recovery Products - Phase III

Report No. 50601-10-KC January 2006

Finding 2 Inherent Challenges in Identifying and Testing High-Risk Cattle
Still Remain

http://www.usda.gov/oig/webdocs/50601-10-KC.pdf

Mr. Johanns,

The August 4, 1997 FDA BSE ruminant to ruminant feed ban was nothing more
than ink on paper. In 2007 alone, 10 MILLION plus pounds of banned blood
laced MBM has already gone out into commerce for the feeding of banned
product to cattle. yes, were still feeding cows banned BSE/BASE product in
2007, almost 10 years after the voluntary ban was put in place. guess what,
it aint working.

YOU and this Administration have failed terribly in protecting not only the
consumer, but your precious commodity that you speak so highly of i.e. the
beef industry. In your continued efforts to cover up the real mad cow
problem in the USA, you have in fact only amplified it and continued it's
spread, and in doing so, you have needlessly exposed millions to the TSE
agent, from many different proven routes and sources. The only saving grace
you have is the incubation period has been on your side. It will catch up.
When it does, when the people finally figure all this out, when some of the
millions you have needlessly exposed to this agent become clinical in the
future, rest assured I will stand in line to see that you and your
administration are convicted for murder.

What you and this administration have done over the past 8 years is
criminal, in my opinion. I have watched not only you, but the Bush
administration thumb there nose to science for almost 8 years, all to
protect the beef industry. The science was there, but you chose to ignore
it, and even manipulated science with the bogus BSE MRR policy, all the
while your were implementing that, you were covering up another mad cow in
Texas. But thanks to the Honorable Phyllis Fong of the OIG, and an act of
Congress, that mad cow was finally proven positive, unlike the other
stumbling and staggering mad cow that was rendered without any test at all
in Texas, but by then you had succeeded in the BSE MRR policy, the legal
trading of all strains of TSE globally. You and this administration have
done the same thing the UK did when they poisoned the globe with there
exporting of BSE, except you made it legal now with the BSE MRR policy, and
now we are dealing with BASE, a strain that is more virulent to humans. what
happens when it mutates again?

When cwd deer and elk and there different phenotypes have all been rendered
into feed, along with scrapie infected sheep in the USA, and a few TME to
top that off, it will be a most interesting recipe will it not, and an
interesting case study for humans for decades to come. sadly though, with
the recent pet food scandal, and the deaths there of, we have learned a few
things. one, that the elderly are expendable, but cats, dogs, and
adolescents are not. and that the problem of our feeding of food producing
animals has been tainted for decades. and with the melamine scandal, as with
the mad cow feed scandal, it's the same old song and dance by you and the
Bush administration, everything is o.k., will not hurt you, cover-up and
protect the industry at all cost, and this will be another part of your sad
legacy in History Sir.

To not allow BSE/TSE testing in the USA, testing that will find, only proves
our point, you have and will continue to cover up the real mad cow problem
in the USA. and the world knows this. ...

Terry S. Singeltary Sr.
P.O. Box 42
Bacliff, Texas USA 77519

UNITED STATES ANIMAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION
8100 Three Chopt Road, Suite 203
P. O. BOX K227
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23288
804- 285-3210 FAX 804-285-3367
E-Mail: usaha@usaha.org
Web Site: www.usaha.org

May 22, 2007
Honorable Michael Johanns
Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Room 200 Jamie Whitten Federal Building
Washington, D.C. 20250

Dear Mr. Secretary:

The United States Animal Health Association (USAHA), wishes to express its
encouragement to you and the Department of Agriculture to appeal the
litigation surrounding private testing for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy.
We hope you will strongly consider this as you work with the Office of
General Counsel on this suit.

To support this appeal, we offer that this sets a detrimental precedence on
USDA's ability to regulate disease and testing processes in animal
agriculture. As we appreciate the entrepreneurial spirit of Creekstone, the
larger scale implications could lead to devastating impacts for food animal
production in this country as itrelates to animal health. We do feel that
private testing could hamper animal health officials' ability to locate
disease occurrences, and exercise proper practices to trace, control and
eliminate them. As you are aware, there are a number of factors that raise
concern among animal health leaders and diagnosticians. We encourage you to
thoroughly consider those upon your decision to appeal. We do recognize this
is now a matter of the courts, and trust that our ability to safeguard
animal health is not compromised as a result of this litigation. Please let
us know if there is any further support we can provide.

Sincerely,

Lee M. Myers
President, U.S. Animal Health Association
Cc: Dr. John Clifford

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

USA MAD COW STRAIN MORE VIRULENT TO HUMANS THAN UK STRAIN

18 January 2007 - Draft minutes of the SEAC 95 meeting (426 KB) held on 7
December 2006 are now available.

snip...

64. A member noted that at the recent Neuroprion meeting, a study was
presented showing that in transgenic mice BSE passaged in sheep may be more
virulent and infectious to a wider range of species than bovine derived BSE.

Other work presented suggested that BSE and bovine amyloidotic spongiform
encephalopathy (BASE) MAY BE RELATED. A mutation had been identified in the
prion protein gene in an AMERICAN BASE CASE THAT WAS SIMILAR IN NATURE TO A
MUTATION FOUND IN CASES OF SPORADIC CJD.

snip...

http://www.seac.gov.uk/minutes/95.pdf

3:30 Transmission of the Italian Atypical BSE (BASE) in Humanized Mouse

Models Qingzhong Kong, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Pathology, Case Western
Reserve University

Bovine Amyloid Spongiform Encephalopathy (BASE) is an atypical BSE strain
discovered recently in Italy, and similar or different atypical BSE cases
were also reported in other countries. The infectivity and phenotypes of
these atypical BSE strains in humans are unknown. In collaboration with
Pierluigi Gambetti, as well as Maria Caramelli and her co-workers, we have
inoculated transgenic mice expressing human prion protein with brain
homogenates from BASE or BSE infected cattle. Our data shows that about half
of the BASE-inoculated mice became infected with an average incubation time
of about 19 months; in contrast, none of the BSE-inoculated mice appear to
be infected after more than 2 years.

***These results indicate that BASE is transmissible to humans and suggest
that BASE is more virulent than classical BSE in humans.***

6:30 Close of Day One

http://www.healthtech.com/2007/tse/day1.asp

Diagnosis and Reporting of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
Singeltary, Sr et al. JAMA.2001; 285: 733-734.

http://jama.ama-assn.org/http://www.neurology.org/cgi/eletters/60/2/176#535

BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL
BMJ
vCJD in the USA * BSE in U.S.
15 November 1999

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/319/7220/1312/b#5406

BMJ

U.S. Scientist should be concerned with a CJD epidemic in the U.S., as
well...

2 January 2000

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/320/7226/8/b#6117

JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY
MARCH 26, 2003

RE-Monitoring the occurrence of emerging forms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
in the United States

Email Terry S. Singeltary:
flounder@wt.net

I lost my mother to hvCJD (Heidenhain Variant CJD). I would like to comment
on the CDC's attempts to monitor the occurrence of emerging forms of CJD.
Asante, Collinge et al [1] have reported 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. However,
CJD and all human TSEs are not reportable nationally. CJD and all human TSEs
must be made reportable in every state and internationally. I hope that the
CDC does not continue to expect us to still believe that the 85%+ of all CJD
cases which ar sporadic are all spontaneous, without route/source. We have
many TSEs i the USA in both animal and man. CWD in deer/elk is spreading
rapidly and CWD does transmit to mink, ferret, cattle, and squirrel monkey
by intracerebral inoculation. With the known incubation periods in other
TSEs, oral transmission studies of CWD may take much longer. Every
victim/family of CJD/TSEs should be asked about route and source of this
agent. To prolong this will only spread the agent and needlessly
exposeothers. In light of the findings of Asante and Collinge et al, there
should be drastic measures to safeguard the medical and surgical arena from
sporadic CJDs and all human TSEs. I only ponder how many sporadic CJDs in
the USA are type 2 PrPSc?

http://www.neurology.org/cgi/eletters/60/2/176#535

doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(03)00715-1
Copyright � 2003 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Newsdesk

Tracking spongiform encephalopathies in North America
Xavier Bosch
Available online 29 July 2003.
Volume 3, Issue 8, August 2003, Page 463

"My name is Terry S Singeltary Sr, and I live in Bacliff, Texas. I lost my
mom to hvCJD (Heidenhain variant CJD) and have been searching for answers
ever since. What I have found is that we have not been told the truth. CWD
in deer and elk is a small portion of a much bigger problem."

............................

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473309903007151/fulltext

http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/1473-3099/PIIS1473309903007151.pdf

SEE STEADY INCREASE IN SPORADIC CJD IN THE USA FROM 1997 TO 2006. SPORADIC
CJD CASES TRIPLED, with phenotype of 'UNKNOWN' strain growing. ...

http://www.cjdsurveillance.com/resources-casereport.html

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

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

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/Comments/2006-0011/2006-0011-1.pdf

[Docket No. 03-025IFA] FSIS Prohibition of the Use of Specified Risk
Materials for Human Food and Requirement for the Disposition of
Non-Ambulatory Disabled Cattle

03-025IFA
03-025IFA-2

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/Comments/03-025IFA/03-025IFA-2.pdf

THE SEVEN SCIENTIST REPORT ***

http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/02n0273/02n-0273-EC244-Attach-1.pdf

Sporadic creutzfeldt-jakob disease in two adolescents (sCJD, the big lie)
Date: May 28, 2007 at 7:58 am PST

http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0705&L=sanet-mg&T=0&P=25276

IN A NUT SHELL ;

(Adopted by the International Committee of the OIE on 23 May 2006)

11. Information published by the OIE is derived from appropriate
declarations made by the official Veterinary Services of Member Countries.
The OIE is not responsible for inaccurate publication of country disease
status based on inaccurate information or changes in epidemiological status
or other significant events that were not promptly reported to then Central
Bureau............

http://www.oie.int/eng/Session2007/RF2006.pdf

Audit Report
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Surveillance Program � Phase II
and
Food Safety and Inspection Service

Controls Over BSE Sampling, Specified Risk Materials, and Advanced Meat
Recovery Products - Phase III

Report No. 50601-10-KC January 2006

Finding 2 Inherent Challenges in Identifying and Testing High-Risk Cattle
Still Remain

http://www.usda.gov/oig/webdocs/50601-10-KC.pdf

Report to Congressional Requesters:
February 2005:
Mad Cow Disease:

FDA's Management of the Feed Ban Has Improved, but Oversight Weaknesses
Continue to Limit Program Effectiveness:

[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-05-101]:

http://www.gao.gov/htext/d05101.html

http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d05101high.pdf

January 2002 MAD COW DISEASE Improvements in the Animal Feed Ban and
Other Regulatory Areas Would Strengthen U.S. Prevention Efforts GAO-02-183

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

OIE BSE RECOMMENDATION FOR USA, bought and paid for by your local cattle
dealers i.e. USDA

Date: May 14, 2007 at 9:00 am PST

http://ranchers.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18748

What Do We Feed to Food-Production Animals? A Review of Animal Feed
Ingredients and Their Potential Impacts on Human Health

Date: May 24, 2007 at 6:59 am PST

http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0705&L=sanet-mg&T=0&P=22301

The Economic Impact of B.S.E. on the U.S. Beef Industry: BY NOT TESTING TO
FIND

Date: May 6, 2007 at 3:05 pm PST

http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0705&L=sanet-mg&T=0&P=4687

SCRAPIE UPDATE USA AS OF MARCH 2007 NOR98 INCLUDED

Date: May 9, 2007 at 6:43 pm PST

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_diseases/scrapie/downloads/monthly_scrapie_rpt.pps

http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0705&L=sanet-mg&T=0&P=6721

http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0704&L=sanet-mg&T=0&P=8315

LIKE LAMBS TO SLAUGHTER

http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0704&L=sanet-mg&T=0&P=11598

Scrapie Agent (Strain 263K) Can Transmit Disease via the ORAL Route after
Persistence in Soil over Years

Date: May 16, 2007 at 10:01 am PST

http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0705&L=sanet-mg&T=0&P=15481

Colorado Surveillance Program for Chronic Wasting Disease Transmission to
Humans (TWO SUSPECT CASES)

Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2007 16:22:22 -0500

http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0704&L=sanet-mg&T=0&P=1165

Subject: Re: FOIA REQUEST FOR ATYPICAL TSE INFORMATION ON VERMONT SHEEP

Sent: Monday, April 02, 2007 2:37 PM

http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0704&L=sanet-mg&T=0&P=816

EXPORTATION AND IMPORTATION OF ANIMALS AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS:
BSE; MRR AND IMPORTATION OF COMMODITIES, 65758-65759 [E6-19042]

http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0701&L=sanet-mg&T=0&P=3854

http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0611&L=sanet-mg&T=0&P=3381

http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0703&L=sanet-mg&T=0&P=498

http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0702&L=sanet-mg&T=0&P=10277

http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0701&L=sanet-mg&T=0&P=9972

http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0703&L=sanet-mg&T=0&P=4492

http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0703&L=sanet-mg&T=0&P=2583

http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0703&L=sanet-mg&T=0&P=2470

HUMAN and ANIMAL TSE Classifications i.e. mad cow disease and the UKBSEnvCJD
only theory

TSEs have been rampant in the USA for decades in many species, and they all
have been rendered and fed back to animals for human/animal consumption. 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 2005. With all the science to date refuting it, to
continue to validate this myth, will only spread this TSE agent through a
multitude of potential routes and sources i.e. consumption, surgical, blood,
medical, cosmetics etc. I propose as with Aguzzi, Asante, Collinge, Caughey,
Deslys, Dormont, Gibbs, Ironside, Manuelidis, Marsh, et al and many more,
that the world of TSE Tranmissible 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. This would further
have to be broken down to strain of species and then the route of
transmission would further have to be broken down.

Accumulation and Transmission are key to the threshold from subclinical to
clinical disease, and of that, I even believe that physical and or blunt
trauma may play a role of onset of clinical symptoms in some cases, but key
to all this, is to stop the amplification and transmission of this agent,
the spreading of, no matter what strain. BUT, to continue with this myth
that the U.K. strain of BSE one strain in cows, and the nv/v CJD, one strain
in humans, and that all the rest of human TSE is one single strain i.e.
sporadic CJD (when to date there are 6 different phenotypes of sCJD), and
that no other animal TSE transmits to humans, to continue with this
masquerade will only continue to spread, expose, and kill, who knows how
many more in the years and decades to come. ONE was enough for me, My Mom,
hvCJD, DOD 12/14/97 confirmed, which is nothing more than another mans name
added to CJD, like CJD itself, Jakob and Creutzfeldt, or
Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker syndrome, just another CJD or human TSE,
named after another human. WE are only kidding ourselves with the current
diagnostic criteria for human and animal TSE, especially differentiating
between the nvCJD vs the sporadic CJD strains and then the GSS strains and
also the FFI fatal familial insomnia strains or the ones that mimics one or
the other of those TSE? Tissue infectivity and strain typing of the many
variants of the human and animal TSEs are paramount in all variants of all
TSE. There must be a proper classification that will differentiate between
all these human TSE in order to do this. With the CDI and other more
sensitive testing coming about, I only hope that my proposal will some day
be taken seriously.

My name is Terry S. Singeltary Sr. and I am no scientist, no doctor and have
no PhDs, but have been independently researching human and animal TSEs since
the death of my Mother to the Heidenhain Variant of Creutzfeldt Jakob
Disease on December 14, 1997 'confirmed'. ...TSS

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
CREEKSTONE FARMS PREMIUM BEEF,
L.L.C.,
Plaintiff,
v.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
et al.,
Defendants.
:::::::::::
Civil Action No. 06-0544 (JR)

snip...

JAMES ROBERTSON
United States District Judge

The government's additional argument, that private testing 14 somehow would
interfere with USDA's surveillance program, is unexplained and therefore
rejected. Of greater concern is the possibility that private testing 15
could produce a false positive result, which might trigger unnecessary
public alarm. USDA has asserted this possibility as a reason to avoid
private testing. Indeed, the Bio-Rad kits that Creekstone proposes using are
used throughout the world, including as part of the USDA's own surveillance
testing. - 18 -

https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2006cv0544-22

Terry S. Singeltary Sr.
P.O. Box 42
Bacliff, Texas USA 77518

Posted by: Terry S. Singeltary Sr. | June 2, 2007 5:14 PM

4

The next thread is "False Alarms Degrade Security."

Leaving aside the legal and public relations stupidity of the guvmint, BSE testing is a bit like the current fad of having a CAT scan every now and then whether it's indicated or not. For every hidden problem detected, there will be lots more people who worry about false positives and take unnecessary further tests, even invasive biopsies and such. I think that MDs are generally opposed, except maybe those who have invested in scanners.

Any of the major players in this can be accused of less than pure motives.

Posted by: John | June 3, 2007 12:27 PM

6

>The scans are extremely useful and often necessary tools

The analogy was to unnecessary scans.

From this site:
http://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/radiation/ctbodyscans.htm

"On the other hand, people whose scans produce suspicious findings may be subjected to expensive, invasive and sometimes unnecessary follow-up medical procedures. In healthy people, about 80% of abnormalities detected on CT studies are relatively harmless findings such as benign nodules, non-cancerous tumours, and scar tissue from past infections."

"The American College of Radiology issued a statement on 27 September 2000 in which it proposed that there is not sufficient evidence to justify whole body CT screening in people with no symptoms or family history of illness. The College also expressed concerns that the procedure would lead to findings that will not be of benefit to the person's health but would rather result in increased anxiety, unnecessary follow-up examinations and treatments, and wasted expense."

Cattle that should be tested aren't average cattle. General testing is a statistical nightmare for anything that is present in 1 out of millions of cases. Testing most of them doesn't provide any confidence that the others are disease free. In young cattle, it's not certain that the prions are present at high enough levels to show up in the test, so negatives aren't completely reliable either.

The Japanese guvmint gets points with Japanese consumers for being vigilant and with Japanese farmers for keeping out cheap foreign meat. The US beef company gets to sell in a premium market. The only potential losers are other beef producers who get hurt by the headlines resulting from the false positives.

Posted by: John | June 3, 2007 2:50 PM