Meat Industry Urges USDA to Develop Age Verification Program
US - The U.S. government should establish an age-verification Quality System Assessment (QSA) Program for Taiwan to ensure an orderly expansion to a full market opening to US beef products, according to a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that...

Farmed Fish May Pose BSE Risk
US - University of Louisville neurologist Robert P. Friedland, M.D., questions the safety of eating farmed fish in today’s Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, adding a new worry to concerns about the nation’s food supply.

Findings Could Advance Understanding Of Mad Cow Disease
US - Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have gained a major insight into how the rogue protein responsible for mad cow disease and related neurological illnesses destroys healthy brain tissue.

Packers Say No Effect from Mad Cow
US - Two US cattle and meat packer groups say the confirmation of another case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad-cow disease, in Canada late Friday will not affect the safety of US beef, but a third group disagrees and wants...

Exports Approach Pre-BSE Levels
US - The value of U.S. beef exports in 2008 reached $3.6 billion – or 94 percent of where they stood in 2003, prior to BSE found in the U.S.

NCBA Criticise Feed Ban Proposals
US - The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) have criticised a decision by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to solicit public comments solely on delaying the implementation of a new feed ban, rather than soliciting public comment on the...

FDA Proposes Delay of BSE Final Rule Implementation
US - The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today proposed a delay in the implementation of the final rule entitled, "Substances Prohibited from Use in Animal Food or Feed," more commonly referred to as the 2008 BSE final rule. The rule prohibits the...

Finding Early Signs of Mad-Cow Disease
US - A comprehensive study of gene-expression changes could lead to new diagnostic tests.

American Feed Rules Extended 60 Days
US - The April 27 implementation deadline of BSE feed rule amendments prohibiting the use of high-risk cattle material in feed for all animal species will be extended 60 days.

What to do with Dead Cattle?
US - A federal rule designed to prevent mad cow disease is causing uncertainty about how to dispose of dead cattle and other livestock.

Alzheimer's and Prion Proteins
YALE, US - Yale researchers have filled in a missing gap on the molecular road map of Alzheimer's disease, linking the disorder and the prion protein, which can cause mad cow disease and other maladies.

New Rule May See Illegal Dumping
NEBRASKA, US - Nebraska's state veterinarian is among those worried dead cattle could be left to rot in windbreaks or ditches because of a federal regulation intended to prevent mad cow disease.

BSE Variant More Virulent than Classical Form
MANHATTAN, US - An atypical prion strain of mad cow disease, also called bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BS, is more virulent than the classical strain, according to a researcher who spoke Nov. 14 at Kansas State University.

New Mad Cow Rule Poses Health Dangers of its Own
US - A federal regulation aimed at preventing mad cow disease from getting into the food supply could create health risks of its own: many thousands of cattle carcasses rotting on farms, spreading germs, attracting vermin and polluting the water.

Mad Cow Variant May be Transmissible to Humans
MANHATTAN, US - The classical form of mad cow disease and a variant manifest themselves differently, but research suggests that the variant may also be transmissible to humans, according a researcher speaking at Kansas State University.

USMEF: Fallacy of Overreliance on Testing
US - An overreliance on meaningless testing and a lack of focus on documenting the effectiveness of steps that are making significant inroads against Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) are hindering a hungry world’s access to protein, driving up food...

Nanotechnology Detects Prions in Cattle
US - With funding from USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service National Research Initiative, scientists in New York created a new device that may provide a faster, easier, and more reliable way to test for mad cow disease,...

Genetic Mutation at Root of Mad Cow Disease
MANHATTAN, US - New findings about the causes of mad cow disease show that sometimes it may be genetic.

Court Rules on Use of BSE Test Kit
US - The USDA and Creekstone Farms Premium Beef of Arkansas City, Kansas, have been engaged in ongoing litigation regarding Creekstone's desire to test its own cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

Mad-cow Class Action Gets Judge's Clearance
US - A $10-billion class action lawsuit targeting the federal government for economic losses caused by a devastating outbreak of mad-cow disease in 2003 has been given a green light to proceed.