Alert from the Texas Animal Health Commission


We received the following information from the USDA this morning (December 27)
and wanted to ensure that you also received the latest:


The USDA's efforts to trace the origins of the affected animal have continued.
and they have determined that the affected animal likely entered the United
States as part of a group of 74 dairy cattle that were imported through
Eastport, Idaho, from Canada in 2001.


This information was obtained through our close cooperation with Canada.
The USDA has been in constant contact with Canadian counterparts to share
information and have been extremely gratified by the high level of
cooperation we have received from them. An official from Canada
is with us in WA throughout our traceback process to
provide support to our efforts. And now, the Canadian official who
headed the epidemiological investigation in Canada when they found
their case in May is en route to Washington State to provide support to our
investigative efforts.


There is some discrepancy in US records and Canada's records on this
animal. US records obtained from the index herd owner indicate that this
animal was 4 to 4-1/2 years old; Canada's records indicate that she was
born in April 1997, making her 6-1/2 years old. To definitively verify
that we are indeed talking about the same animal, we are initiating DNA
testing, which is what Canada did to confirm the identity of their affected
animal. The results should be available within the week.


Points of interest:
· These animals were all dairy cattle and entered the country only
about 2-1/2 years ago, most, if not all, of them are likely still alive.
And because of the records that are kept on dairy cattle, the USDA is confident
that they will be able to determine the whereabouts of all of them within the
next 3 to 4 days.

· With regard to the relative risk of the 73 other animals that entered
the country along with this one infected cow: Even in the UK, where
prevalence of this disease has been the highest, experience has shown that
even at the height of BSE infectivity in a herd, usually only one or two
animals in a herd are likely to be infected. That is an important point;
just because this one infected animal entered in a group of 74
animals does not in fact suggest that all or even any of the other animals
in the group were infected with BSE. However, USDA efforts will
nevertheless focus on tracing every one of those animals.

· And finally, there is no scientific evidence to suggest that milk and
dairy products carry the agent that causes BSE.