Fed: Aust to resist calls to increase tests on cattle for BSE

AAP General News (Australia)
12-30-2003
Fed: Aust to resist calls to increase tests on cattle for BSE

By Shane Wright

CANBERRA, Dec 30 AAP - Australia will resist calls to dramatically increase the number
of cattle it tests for mad cow disease.

A spokesman for Agriculture Minister Warren Truss said today there was no need for
Australia to increase the number of animals tested, as it was already complying with international
requirements.

The US is set to increase the number of cattle it tests for bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(BSE) which, in its human form as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, has killed more than
120 people worldwide.

An animal with BSE was detected in the US on Christmas Eve.

Until that discovery the US, along with Australia and New Zealand were considered the
only countries in the world guaranteed to be free of the brain-wasting disease.

In Australia, around 400 cattle with some signs of neurological problems are tested
for mad cow disease every year.

Over seven years of testing, none have recorded any positive tests.

In 2001-02 more than 4,000 cattle were tested, but again none were found to have the disease.

Australia has a herd of about 27 million, of which between eight million and nine million
are slaughtered annually.

The US, which tests around 20,000 of the 35 million cattle slaughtered there annually,
is likely to double the number of animals checked for BSE.

But Mr Truss' spokesman said there was no need for Australia to change its testing regime.

He said Australia's testing regime was in line with the World Organisation for Animal
Health (OIE) and European Union standards.

"We are testing enough to satisfy the requirements of the OIE and EU," he told AAP.

"Australia continues to have the highest rating by both the OIE and EU, and we continue
to maintain our clean and green image."

BSE is thought to have developed from the feeding of ground animal parts to vegetation-eating
ruminant animals such as cattle.

A ban introduced by Australian agricultural officials in 1966 may have played a major
role in keeping BSE out of Australia.

Mr Truss' spokesman said the 1966 ban, introduced to prevent the introduction of anthrax,
kept cattle feed made from animal products from Australia.

Although farmers were allowed to feed their cattle products made domestically from
ground animals, this was only done on a small scale.

A further ban was introduced in 1996, preventing the feeding of any ruminants with
products derived from ground-up animals.

Meanwhile, Japanese officials are expected in Australia in coming weeks to see if local
producers can fill the void left by its ban on American beef imports.

Japan is already Australia's single largest beef market. The US, until the mad cow
discovery, was Australia's largest market.

AAP sw/tma/de

KEYWORD: US MADCOW AUST

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