Controversy
The first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, in the U.S. was reported in December 2003 at a farm in the state of Washington. Since the cow was from Canada, USDA officials thought the American beef supply was safe. However, after Japan and fifty-two other countries banned U.S. beef, the USDA started a program to test half of the nation’s 450,000 cows that could not walk. The program did not find any cases of mad cow disease until June 25, 2005. The cow was found to have originated from America, was first tested in November 2004, and was recommended to be retested. During this time, the Bush administration restored about one-third of U.S. beef exports through intense lobbying, but Japan, the biggest export market, continued to deny America’s beef. After a while, Japan lifted part of its ban. They allowed meat only from the carcasses of young cows that have had their spinal cords, vertebrae, brains, and bone marrow removed. Eventually, Japan reenacted the ban after a shipment from the U.S. contained meat with the vertebrae still attached. This has caused speculation on whether the VSTA regulates testing for BSE in cows. Many people believe that Congress should pass legislation forcing the USDA to license BSE testing to ranchers and slaughterhouses, and it is possible to amend the VSTA to do so.
After the first case of mad cow disease that was discovered, two more cases emerged. In 2005, the second instance was found in a cow in Texas, and the third was found in 2006 in a cow from Alabama. In 2012, this issue still remains a controversy. On April 24, 2012, the Department of Agriculture discovered a dairy cow in central California with mad cow disease. The USDA’s chief veterinary officer, John Clifford, stated that the cow’s meat did not enter the food supply. In addition to this, the carcass will be destroyed. The infected cow was found due to random sampling and is considered the fourth cow in the U.S. to be infected with BSE. This has caused the controversy to arise once again and speculation on whether the VSTA regulates testing for BSE in cows is still a hot topic to be discussed.
Read more about this topic: Virus-Serum-Toxin Act
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