by Michael Greger, M.D.
July 22, 2003
Chief BSE Investigator for Farm Sanctuary

Last week the U.S. Congress narrowly defeated an amendment that would have
prevented USDA from approving meat from downed animals for human food. Downed animals are livestock who are too sick to stand, and they are widely recognized as the animals with the greatest risk of having mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE).

Even as it allows downed animals into the food supply, USDA acknowledges that if mad cow disease surfaces in the U.S., it will most likely first be found among downed cattle. The recent discovery of mad cow disease in Canada was found in a downed cow. The President of the Alberta Beef Producers remarked, "Cows too sick to walk, too sick to stand, have no business being part of the food system. This animal should never have left the farm." At least that cow didn't end up on anyone's dinner plate. Consumers in the U.S. might not have been so lucky. USDA slaughterhouse inspection methods are not adequate to detect mad cow disease.

An investigation of USDA records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act showed that most downed animals brought to USDA slaughterhouses are approved for human food. They enter the food supply without being tested for mad cow disease. USDA admits that "...downer cattle infected with BSE could potentially be offered for slaughter and, if the clinical signs of the disease were not detected, pass ante-mortem inspection. These cattle could then be slaughtered for human food." Startlingly, downed animals found to be afflicted with gangrene, malignant cancers, pneumonia and other diseases were also approved for human food by the USDA.

If U.S. cattle have mad cow disease, they could be entering the human food supply undetected. If this is occurring, evidence of the disease is being eaten by unwitting consumers. It could take decades for symptoms of the ailment to surface in the human population, where the incubation time can be 30 years or longer.

The World Health Organization recommends that all downed cattle be tested for mad cow disease. Over the past ten or so years, though, the USDA has tested less than 2% of the downer cattle in United States. Dr. Stanley Prusiner, arguably the world's leading expert on these diseases--he won the Nobel prize in Medicine for his discovery of the mad cow pathogen--describes the number of tests done by USDA as "appalling."

When asked what level of testing in the U.S. he'd be comfortable with, Prusiner replied, "Well, I'd like to see every downer cattle, every fallen cow tested. That's a beginning. And then after that, at some point, I'd like to see every cow tested, just as they do in Japan. Every single cow is being tested in Japan." In Europe and Japan 100% of all adult downed cattle are tested. If the animal isn't tested, then by law, the animal must be destroyed. In the U.S., the untested livestock are most often eaten.

As it stands, the USDA continues to ignore the recommendations of top scientists and the World Health Organization that all downer cattle be tested. We continue to only test a fraction of downer cattle on and off the farm in this country. Until we catch up to the testing programs of Europe and Japan and test all high risk downers, we cannot assert with any confidence that the United States is free of mad cow disease. And until we can, dragging downed animals to slaughter is not only hazardous for the animal, but may be hazardous for human health as well.