Comments on: Beef Over Cattle Abuse Video Escalates

Animal Rights Groups, Cattle Industry Spar As 143 Million Pounds Of Beef Is Recalled

[scottyusa]

The recall is scarier than the story of abuse. It glaringly says this is not an isolated incident. This recall is huge and probably a waste of good meat. I am angered by this video that these employees were so brazen in their acts. I hope they see jail. If this is common, which I hope its not, than why so much caution on what is presently being recalled? The fact that they have a name for this is suspicious in itself. "harvested out of compliance,"

[olebd]

Alzheimer''s caused by some sort of Mad Cow strain perhaps?

[flounder91]

FC5.5.2 Transmission of Italian BSE and BASE Isolates in Cattle Results into a Typical BSE Phenotype and a Muscle Wasting Disease


snip...


*** and in some subtypes of inherited and sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.


http://www.prion2007.com/pdf/Prion%20Book%20of%20Abstracts.pdf


TSS

[flounder91]

P02.35

Molecular Features of the Protease-resistant Prion Protein (PrPres) in H- type BSE

Biacabe, A-G1; Jacobs, JG2; Gavier-Widin, D3; Vulin, J1; Langeveld, JPM2;
Baron, TGM1 1AFSSA, France; 2CIDC-Lelystad, Netherlands; 3SVA, Sweden

*** reminds features reported respectively in sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob
disease and in Gerstmann-Strdussler-Scheinker (GSS) syndrome in humans.



http://www.prion2007.com/pdf/Prion%20Book%20of%20Abstracts.pdf



TSS

[flounder91]

Since these 2 publications additional cases of atypical BSE have been found in other countries. H cases have been detected in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. L cases have been diagnosed in Belgium, Denmark,
France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Poland (Brown et al., 2006). The L cases in Belgium and Japan had additional differences (Yamakawa et al., 2003; De Bosschere et al., 2004). Two important points must be emphasized regarding the atypical BSE cases. Information regarding
lesion pattern and PrP distribution is very limited as most cases were detected by the large scale surveillance programs which only required collection of the brain stem. In addition, if countries were using certain tests, some cases of atypical BSE may have been misdiagnosed or reported as negative. For example, if a country relied solely on immunohistochemistry to confirm positive ELISA screening test cases and did not use western blotting at all, the banding pattern differences would go unnoticed.


http://www.usaha.org/committees/reports/2006/report-fe-2006.pdf


TSS

[flounder91]

***PLEASE NOTE***

USA BASE CASE, (ATYPICAL BSE), AND OR TSE (whatever they are calling it today), please note that both the ALABAMA COW, AND THE TEXAS COW,both were ''''H-TYPE'''', personal communication Detwiler et al Wednesday, August 22, 2007 11:52 PM. ...TSS

http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0708&L=sanet-mg&T=0&P=19779



TSS

[flounder91]

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."


http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0703&L=sanet-mg&T=0&P=8125


TSS

[flounder91]

"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


TSS

[flounder91]

In this context, a word is in order about the US testing program. After the
discovery of the first (imported) cow in 2003, the magnitude of testing was
much increased, reaching a level of 400,000 tests in 2005 (Figure 4).
Neither of the 2 more recently indigenously infected older animals with
nonspecific clinical features would have been detected without such testing,
and neither would have been identified as atypical without confirmatory
Western blots. Despite these facts, surveillance has now been decimated to
40,000 annual tests (USDA news release no. 0255.06, July 20, 2006) and
invites the accusation that the United States will never know the true
status of its involvement with BSE.


http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol12no12/06-0965.htm


TSS

[flounder91]

[In submitting these data, Terry S. Singeltary Sr. draws attention to
the steady increase in the "type unknown" category, which, according
to their definition, comprises cases in which vCJD could be excluded.
The total of 26 cases for the current year (2007) is disturbing,
possibly symptomatic of the circulation of novel agents.
Characterization of these agents should be given a high priority. - Mod.CP]


http://www.promedmail.org/pls/askus/f?p=2400:1001:6833194127530602005::NO::F2400_P1001_BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1010,39963



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

[flounder91]

In FY 2007, 331 scrapie cases have been confirmed and reported by the
National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL), including 59* Regulatory
Scrapie Slaughter Surveillance (RSSS) cases (Figure 5 and Slide 16). In FY
2007, two field cases, one validation case, and two RSSS cases were
consistent with Nor-98 scrapie. The Nor98-like cases originated from flocks
in California, Minnesota, Colorado, Wyoming and Indiana respectively.
Nineteen cases of scrapie in goats have been reported since 1990 (Figure 6).
The last goat case was reported in September 2007.


snip...



see full report here ;



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


Aspects of the Cerebellar Neuropathology in Nor98

Date: September 26, 2007 at 4:06 pm PST

P03.141

Aspects of the Cerebellar Neuropathology in Nor98

SNIP...

*** The pathology features of Nor98 in the cerebellum of the affected sheep
showed similarities with those of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in
humans.

http://www.prion2007.com/pdf/Prion%20Book%20of%20Abstracts.pdf


TSS

[sunseeker6]

This is not the fault of either the Republicans or Democrats. The USDA is overwhelmed with work and more than likely understaffed. The fault of the treatment lies with the management and the workers of this place. An animal meant for slaughter still has the right to be treated humanely. Management must be from China.

[flounder91]

Although APHIS designed procedures to ensure FSIS
condemned cattle were sampled and made a concerted effort for outreach to
obtain targeted samples, industry practices not considered in the design of
the surveillance program reduced assurance that targeted animals were tested
for BSE.




USDA/OIG-A/50601-10-KC Page 27

observe these animals ante mortem when possible to assure the animals from
the target population are ultimately sampled and the clinical signs
evaluated.



snip...



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


TSS

[displeased]

Still, Farm life was humane.
Posted by lovegetpeace

There is a difference between torturing an animal and killing it for food. When I was a kid, other kids in the neighborhood would find snakes, frogs, etc and torture them to death. I never understood what pleasures they got out of this. I figured it was a power thing (control over another entity) or they were abused themselves.

[mcvet]

USDA spokesman Keith Williams said his department has evidence that Westland did not routinely contact its veterinarian when cattle became non-ambulatory after passing inspection, violating health regulations.

Has anyone noticed that the Government under the control of fascist seem to ALWAYS come up with findings like this AFTER the problem is exposed. Doesn''t matter if it Toys killing the kiddies or Trailers Killing victims... it always seems those who are required to by law to protect us always do it AFTER the bad guys have been caught. Aren''t THEY supposed to catch the bad guys? Sieg Heil Bush

[flounder91]

FSIS STATES ;


Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy - "Mad Cow Disease"


In addition, on December 30, 2003, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman
announced new policies that would further strengthen an existing solid food
safety system against BSE. On that date, an immediate ban was enacted to
prevent all non-ambulatory disabled cattle from being used in the human food
supply. This group contains the HIGHEST risk population of cattle that
could possibly have BSE. However, even before this ban, FSIS inspectors at
slaughterhouses were condemning all cattle they suspected of showing central
nervous system disorders.


snip...

Are meats used in the National School Lunch Program safe?

Yes. USDA''s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), by specification, does not
allow beef that is mechanically separated from bone with automatic deboning
systems, advanced lean (meat) recovery (AMR) systems, or powered knives for
any commodity programs. USDA procurement specifications for beef
specifically prohibit the use of meat from downer animals - animals too sick
or injured to walk.



http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Bovine_Spongiform_Encephalopathy_Mad_Cow_Disease/index.asp




TSS

[lovegetpeace]

Folks,
Before the Industrial age in America, someone in the family farm had to kill a chicken, a pig or every now and then a cow for a good fresh tasty dinner. Still, Farm life was humane.

[flounder91]

Owner and Corporation Plead Guilty
to Defrauding Bovine Spongiform
Encephalopathy (BSE) Surveillance Program


An Arizona meat processing company and its owner pled
guilty in February 2007 to charges of theft of Government
funds, mail fraud, and wire fraud. The owner and his
company defrauded the BSE Surveillance Program when
they falsified BSE Surveillance Data Collection Forms and
then submitted payment requests to USDA for the services.
In addition to the targeted sample population (those cattle
that were more than 30 months old or had other risk factors
for BSE), the owner submitted to USDA, or caused to be
submitted, BSE obex (brain stem) samples from healthy
USDA-inspected cattle. As a result, the owner fraudulently
received approximately $390,000. Sentencing is scheduled
for May 2007.


snip...


Topics that will be covered in ongoing or planned reviews under Goal 1
include:

soundness of BSE maintenance sampling (APHIS),


implementation of Performance-Based Inspection System
enhancements for specified risk material (SRM) violations and
improved inspection controls over SRMs (FSIS and APHIS),


snip...


The findings and recommendations from these efforts will be covered in
future semiannual reports as the relevant audits and
investigations are completed.


4 USDA OIG SEMIANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS FY 2007 1st Half


http://www.usda.gov/oig/webdocs/sarc070619.pdf


TSS

[displeased]

People who enthusiastically abuse animals display their potential for criminal behavior (there are links between the two). Immoral idiots!

[flounder91]

TEXAS SUSPECT MAD COW DOWNER RENDERED WITH NO TEST 2004

Cattle with central nervous system symptoms are of particular interest
because cattle with bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE, also known as
"mad cow disease," can exhibit such symptoms. In this case, there is no way
now to test for BSE. But even if the cow had BSE, FDA''s animal feed rule
would prohibit the feeding of its rendered protein to other ruminant animals
(e.g., cows, goats, sheep, bison).

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/2004/NEW01061.html


TSS