UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Jan. 2 Announcement That A Canadian Cow In Alberta Has Tested Positive For Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy -- Often Referred To As "mad Cow Disease" -- Again Is Calling Attention To The System Of Checks And Balances In Place To Monitor For The Disease. And A Veterinary Scientist In Penn State's College Of Agricultural Sciences Says When It Comes To Bse Testing, Pennsylvania Is Among The National Leaders.

"Nationally, the United States is on target to test more than 200,000 animals for BSE in the current fiscal year, which is a tenfold increase over the number of cattle tested the previous year," says David Wolfgang, extension veterinarian.

"Under the U.S. Department of Agriculture's testing protocol, Pennsylvania would be expected to test about 10,000 cattle this year," Wolfgang says. "But about halfway through the year, the state already has far exceeded its testing target for the entire year. The state is going way beyond what is required to ensure the safety of Pennsylvania beef."

Wolfgang says the recent Canadian BSE case originated in the same region of that country where another cow found to be infected about a year ago was raised. That earlier animal ended up in Washington state, becoming the first known case of BSE on American soil. Despite the sharp increase in surveillance, no additional cases have been found in the United States.

"Both of those Canadian animals were older dairy cattle born before the ban on ruminant byproducts in animal feed took effect in 1997," Wolfgang explains. "The similarities in the location and age of these two infected animals suggest that there could have been a single source of feed that caused these cases."

Because BSE is not found in animals at the age that most are processed for meat -- younger than 30 months -- the testing program developed by USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service targets older animals and those that display signs of abnormality.

"Testing a healthy young cow or calf for BSE would be like testing a child for Alzheimer's," says Wolfgang. "Young animals don't show clinical signs and are not a threat to contaminate meat or other animals. Current testing programs are designed specifically to find infected cattle by examining the animals most at risk.

"The important thing for consumers and producers to keep in mind is that none of the infected animals entered the food supply, and the system of targeted surveillance apparently is working," says Wolfgang. "And in Pennsylvania, that's largely due to the combined efforts of USDA/APHIS and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's animal diagnostic laboratory system, of which Penn State's Animal Diagnostic Lab is a part."

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EDITORS: David Wolfgang can be reached at 814-863-5849 or by e-mail at drw12@psu.edu.

Chuck Gill Office 814-863-2713 FAX 814-863-9877