4-27 IAN Mad Cow

 As you know, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed an atypical case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a dairy cow in central California on April 24, 2012. According to Dr. Guy Loneragan, epidemiologist and professor of food safety and public health at Texas Tech University, we remain absolutely confident in the safety of U.S. beef. Loneragan says  since the 1st case of the BSE  was identified in the United States in 2003, a lot more is known about this very rare disease.   “A tremendous amount of scientific knowledge has been generated about this and most importantly we now know how to effectively control BSE within animals to prevent and protect the animals but we also know how to protect the human population. This scientific information has been put into a series of interlocking firewalls and these firewalls are working. What we can take away from this is that the US beef and dairy supply is safe. Wyatt Prescott, executive director of the Idaho cattlemen’s Association says that the aftermath depends on media attention.