- WASHINGTON (McCLATCHY) --
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has quietly declared an "extraordinary
emergency" because of the discovery of a Holstein infected with mad
cow disease in Washington state - a move that will give federal officials
additional authority to quarantine herds and destroy cattle.
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- Agriculture Department officials said the declaration
will also make additional funding available for their ongoing investigation
and to reimburse farmers for animals that have been destroyed.
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- The declaration was published Monday in the Federal Register,
a daily publication of all rules, regulations and notices issued by the
federal government.
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- Other than the Federal Register notice, the department
made no public announcement an emergency had been declared.
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- "It's not a big deal," Jim Rogers, a spokesman
for the department, said Thursday.
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- In the last several years, similar emergencies have been
declared for outbreaks of such things as plum pox, exotic Newscastle disease
and avian virus.
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- But others said it appeared the emergency declaration
was handled quietly so as not to alarm the public or raise further concerns
with the dozens of nations that have banned U.S. beef imports since the
first-ever case of mad cow disease in the United States was confirmed two
days before Christmas.
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- "It does make it look serious," said Carol
Tucker Foreman of the Consumer Federation of America.
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- Foreman, who used to oversee the department's food safety
program, was to meet along with representatives of seven other consumer
groups late Thursday with Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman to discuss
additional steps that could be taken to protect the nation's food chain.
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- Since the diseased Holstein was discovered, herds in
Mabton, Mattawa, Sunnyside and Quincy have been quarantined. The infected
animal was imported from Canada in 2001 with 80 other animals from the
same Alberta herd. Fourteen of those animals have now been accounted for
and a special team of more than 100 investigators and other personnel are
in the Yakima Valley searching for the others.
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- Roughly 600 animals already have been destroyed as a
precaution, including 450 cattle at a Sunnyside calf feeding operation.
A bull calf from the infected Holstein had been shipped to that operation.
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- On Thursday, department officials said they had euthanized
89 animals from the Mabton dairy farms where the diseased Holstein was
found. All of the destroyed animals were tested for the disease. Forty-one
additional animals from the Mabton herd will also be destroyed and tested.
Tests results can take up to a week.
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- The Federal Register notice said the presence of mad
cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), presented a "threat
to livestock. It constitutes a significant danger to the national economy
and a potential serious burden to interstate and foreign commerce."
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- The notice said officials had reviewed the measures being
taken by Washington state and tribal officials to quarantine and regulate
herds where animals linked to the disease have been tracked.
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- "Based on that review and consultation, and the
scope of the impact of this event on the national economy, the department
has determined that the state may be unable to adequately take the measures
necessary to quarantine and dispose of animals that may be infected with
or exposed to BSE," the notice said.
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- Rogers said the notice was in no way intended to be a
slap at Washington state officials.
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- "We are very pleased with their cooperation,"
he said.
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- Under the declaration, the federal government will have
authority to hold, seize, treat, destroy - including "preventative"
slaughter - and dispose of any animal or facility necessary to prevent
the spread of BSE. The Agriculture Department also will have enhanced quarantine
powers, powers that normally reside with the state.
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- The emergency, which applies only in Washington state,
became effective retroactively on Jan. 6.
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- Despite the increased federal powers, Rogers said that
most importantly, the declaration will allow the department to pay farmers
for any losses associated with the disease.
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- "It's just a funding mechanism," he said. "We've
done it before. Sometimes we announce it publicly. Sometimes we don't."
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- Foreman said that, so far, Veneman and the Agriculture
Department have been moving in the right direction.
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- "She been very open with us," Foreman said.
"We praise them for acting quickly."
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- But the food-safety groups would like the department
to take further steps, including a national identification system to track
cattle from birth to slaughter and more testing for BSE using so-called
rapid tests that can deliver results in a matter of hours, not days.
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- The groups also would like to see the current system
of voluntary recalls of possibly contaminated food replaced with a system
of mandatory recalls that also would include the naming of any retail outlets
where the products may have been shipped. The department now considers
such information proprietary.
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- "It's a modest list of things," Foreman said.
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- In addition, the groups would like Veneman to hold a
series of public meetings with consumers to discuss the new rules the department
has implemented. Foreman said Veneman has spent too much time talking with
industry representatives and not enough with the public.
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