"There is speculation . . . that a spongiform encephalopathy agent is present in the U.S. cattle population," notes a 1991 USDA report, pointing out that "prohibit[ing] the feeding of sheep and cattle-origin protein products to all ruminants, regardless of age. . . . minimizes the risk of BSE. The disadvantage is that the cost to the livestock and rendering industries would be substantial." (53) The ban has largely been ignored by farmers and feed manufacturers. (53) Over 300 feed manufactures have been found in violation of the 1997 feed ban for failing to guarantee that ruminant protein is kept out of cattle feed. Pigs and poultry have been fed ruminant protein and cattle have been fed the remains of pigs and poultry. The practice of feeding poultry manure directly to cattle could be another example of recycling undigested ruminant protein back to the cattle.
John Stauber is an investigative writer, executive director of the Center for Media and Democracy, and co-author of the 1997 book, "Mad Cow USA: Could the Nightmare Happen Here?" The so-called "fire wall" protecting American consumers from contaminated meat is "a farce," Stauber said. "The obfuscation and spin coming from the USDA is amazing." Stauber says it is preposterous that this is an isolated case. "The FDA said back in 1997 that by the time we saw one case of mad cow in the U.S. - even if there were an effective feed ban in place, which there isn't - over the next 11 years because of the invisible latency period we could expect to see 299,000 more cases," he said. (17)
Some 37 million cattle were sent to market in 2003, with an estimated 130,000 of them downed cattle. Yet only 20,526 cows in total were tested nationwide that year, which is like a blind person finding a needle in a haystack. (8, 9) Actually, the USDA claims to have tested approximately 20,000 cows for the disease in 2002 and 2003, but has been unable to provide any documentation in support of this to UPI. (28) In Europe, about 200,000 animals are tested each day, and in Japan, every bovine that enters the food supply is tested. (26)
The American system was never intended to keep sick animals from reaching the public's refrigerators, said Dr. Ron DeHaven, the Agriculture Department's chief veterinarian. It is "a surveillance system, not a food-safety test. Statistically, it is meant only to assure finding the disease if it exists in one in 1 million animals, and only after slaughter." (10) A 2001 study in Germany found that downed cows were up to 240 times more likely to test positive for BSE. Despite this known threat, an average of only 10 to 15 per cent of downers are tested for BSE in this country. (11) Older cattle, such as dairy cows, are more likely to exhibit symptoms of the disease. While little is known about its diet, the animal found to be infected with BSE in Washington state was a downer from a dairy herd.
‘Downer cow syndrome’ is a ‘garbage can’ category that refers to any animal that died or had to be put down after failing to stand on its own legs for 24 hours or more (53). It can include cows with arthritis, paralysis, grass tetany, bone fractures, ketosis, milk fever, and spongiform encephalopathies. BSE is generally a slow, progressive deterioration of the brain and central nervous system, with the cattle eventually becoming unable to walk or stand. But cattle will usually not display symptoms for three to eight years after becoming infected with BSE (1). Most animals are slaughtered before they would show symptoms. Thus many cattle, even though they were not yet downers, would go undiagnosed and be able to carry the disease into our diets and the diets of our cats. (27)
