By Sophie Walker
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The discovery that a second U.S. animal may have mad cow disease could alarm countries considering lifting a ban on American beef, but the age of the suspect animal shows U.S. safeguards are working, meat industry sources said.
The announcement came at the end of a weeklong tour by veterinary experts from South Korea who inspected U.S. slaughter plants, and as Japan’s Food Safety Commission convenes to conduct risk assessments based on U.S. mad cow safeguards.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Friday an older cow tested positive for the deadly ailment, but will undergo another round of tests in Britain to confirm the results.
The animal initially tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, in a preliminary test in November, but when it was retested with more sophisticated technology, it was found free of the disease.
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The USDA’s inspector general asked department scientists this week to retest that case using yet another procedure. That test showed the animal was infected with mad cow disease.
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said the meat of the animal never entered the human food or livestock feed chain.
"I don’t believe this has any impact on our international trading partners," Johanns said.
Beef shipments were cut off in December 2003 following the U.S. announcement of its first case of the bovine disease. Before its ban, Japan was the No. 1 beef market for the United States, buying $1.4 billion annually. South Korea was its third-largest market.
A South Korean Agriculture Ministry official, who requested anonymity, said his country was studying U.S. safety measures and was far from deciding whether to lift the import ban.
The Japanese government agreed in principle in October to resume beef imports from American cattle aged 20 months or younger, but insisted shipments would not resume until its independent commission declared U.S. beef was safe to eat.
Current negotiations with South Korea center on beef from animals under 30 months.
Scientists believe mad cow disease takes several years to incubate within an animal’s nervous system, making young cattle far less risky.
Richard Fritz, vice president of the U.S. Meat Export Federation, said the news should not slow trade negotiations.
"This appears to be a very old animal," Fritz told Reuters. "I think all of our trading partners understand the science of the disease and the mitigating measures we put in place.
"If it turns out to be positive, the trading partners will understand why. And if it turns out negative, it just shows that we have been very diligent and vigilant in trying to assure the disease is not in the United States," Fritz said.
CONSUMERS WARY?
In 1997, the United States and Canada outlawed the use of cattle remains as a protein supplement for cattle, goats and sheep to prevent the spread of mad cow disease.
Canada found two cases of mad cow disease earlier this year and both are thought to be from infected feed. Until now, the United States had found only one case of mad cow disease, in a Washington state dairy cow imported from Canada.
The U.S. border has been closed to imports of Canadian cattle since May 2003, when Canada found its first domestic case of mad cow. The USDA’s plan to open it was halted by a judge at the request of ranchers group R-CALF USA, which argued that the border should remain closed to protect the public.
R-CALF’s lawsuit is backed by more than 60 consumer, food safety and other groups.
"This is exactly why R-CALF has taken a stand on BSE," spokeswoman Shae Dodson said. "The disease itself is not native to the U.S. cattle herd. That disease would have had to have been imported into the U.S."
Japanese consumer groups have lobbied against resuming U.S. beef imports, saying safety cannot be guaranteed.
Terry Stokes, chief executive of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, said: "Consumers have complete confidence in the safety of U.S. beef. Industry and government has demonstrated that they have firewalls in place to ensure that the product is safe."
"It was an older animal and the product for trade which we are negotiating with Japan and South Korea is from younger animals," he added.
Previously, Johanns had said he would continue discussions with Japan to eventually make beef from older animals eligible for export.
