ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 3, 1997 TAG: 9701030079
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
THE PRECAUTIONARY MOVES would confine the deadly disease to infected cows, though no instances have been documented here yet.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration took steps Thursday to ban the use of cow, sheep and goat tissue in most animal feeds to ensure against the transmission of ``mad cow disease,'' which has been linked to at least 10 human cases of a fatal neurological disorder in Britain.
Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala called the U.S. action ``precautionary,'' since there have been no cases of the disease reported in the United States. Last year, the U.S. livestock industry said it would voluntarily eliminate such tissue from cattle feed sold to American farmers.
Animals contract the infection by eating feed that has been supplemented by the tissues of other infected animals. Humans are believed to acquire the disease by eating infected beef. It results in the formation of sponge-like holes in the brain and there is no known treatment or cure,
The proposed regulation, which is subject to a 45-day public comment period, is the latest in a series of measures taken by the FDA, other federal agencies, and the industry to prevent animals from becoming infected, and to minimize the chances of their transmitting such diseases to humans. The rule will likely become effective later this year.
The disease, known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, is one of the more commonly known of a group of animal diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, or TSEs. In animals and humans, TSEs are characterized by a long incubation period, a relatively short course of neurological symptoms, and a death rate of 100 percent.
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association called the FDA action ``an appropriate next step to prevent (BSE) from ever occurring in the U.S.,'' and predicted it would have ``little effect'' on the cost of producing beef and milk. Before the industry voluntarily removed the products, producers used only about 15 percent of available by-products in their feed, the trade group said.
Tissues from ``ruminant,'' or cud-chewing animals - such as cows, sheep, goats, cattle, elk and deer - are often used to supplement the diets of the same kinds of animals. Under the new regulation, the tissue from ruminant animals could not be used in the feed of ruminant animals.
Mink tissue also would be prohibited from feed because minks also can become infected.
The rule does not apply to poultry feed because there is no evidence that poultry can become infected with or transmit TSEs.
``If, for some reason, a case of BSE were to occur in the U.S. - and it is important to emphasize that not even one case of BSE has ever been found here - the steps we are taking today would confine it to the individual animal, and greatly decrease the potential risk to humans,'' said FDA Commissioner David A. Kessler.
BSE has been linked to a variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which caused 10 deaths in Britain.
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