Local cattle raisers are responding to reports of what may, or may not, be the first case of “Mad Cow Disease” found in the United States. “This incident is unfortunate for the Washington Dairy Operation,” said Moana Palama of the
Local cattle raisers are responding to reports of what may, or may not, be the first case of “Mad Cow Disease” found in the United States.
“This incident is unfortunate for the Washington Dairy Operation,” said Moana Palama of the Mahaulepu Ranch. Palama is president of the Kauai Cattlemen’s Association.
“As producers, we understand that BSE is a herd-health issue, transmitted by the feed products derived from animal bone and meal products. This condition in no way affects the main meat products of the animal. Your Kauai Cattlemen’s Associations’ producers continue to stand behind the local production and we trust that the strict inspection practices currently in place by the USDA will halt and incubate any threat to island beef that is a result of this case.”
“We also feel that Hawai’i herd producers are least at-risk due to our isolation from the feed products identified in this case,” she said. “According to the National Beef Association, these meal based feeds have been banned from use since 1997, while we understand that BSE has a 2-8 year incubation period, we feel confident that Kaua’i herds are in top form. Local producers on Kaua’i mainly have small herds and are extremely diligent in herd health processes.”
Any cattle raisers who have questions on this issue can call Palama at 742-9784.
The next meeting of the local cattlemen’s organization is set for January 6.
The U.S. has conducted a Mad Cow Disease surveillance program since 1990 and this is the first possible case that has been found, according to an announcement from the federal agency.
A day after the discovery of what appears to be the nation’s first case of mad cow disease, a government source familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press that the animal came from Sunny Dene Ranch.
Sid Wavrin, who identified himself as Sunny Dene’s owner, declined to comment when contacted by the AP.
Sunny Dene has operations in Mabton and nearby Grandview. William Wavrin, who also is listed by the state Department of Agriculture on registration documents for Sunny Dene, did not return a call for comment.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced Tuesday that a single Holstein from a farm near the town, about 40 miles southeast of Yakima, likely had mad cow disease. If confirmed by follow-up tests at a lab near London, the case would be the first in U.S. history.
The federal agency’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said there was an “extremely low likelihood that the beef being recalled contains the infectious agent.”
Tom Ellestad, co-manager of Vern’s Moses Lake Meat, told the Columbia Basin Herald in Moses Lake that he remains confident in the inspection system that led to the discovery. “We have done nothing wrong,” he told the newspaper. “The inspection system works because we caught this cow.”
BSE, or mad cow disease, eats holes in the brains of cattle. Outbreaks decimated the European beef industry and killed more than 100 people in the 1980s.
Segments of the animal’s brain were being flown to a lab in England, where they were expected to arrive by early Thursday. Steven Edwards, chief executive of Veterinary Laboratories Agencies in Weybridge, west of London, said his scientists would work on Christmas to get follow-up test results as soon as possible.
“As soon as it arrives here at the laboratory, our experts have said they will be able to look at them straight away so we should have a result within a few hours of the initial test,” Edwards said.
BSE is caused by rogue proteins called prions that collect in the cow’s brain, spinal cord and other nervous system tissue. Processors are supposed to remove the spinal cord to minimize health risks, although a 2002 report found that rule was not always followed. The Agriculture Department last spring began more careful testing to ensure compliance.
