Wednesday, September 5, 2012

El Salvador lifted all age and product restrictions on USA beef, while Mexico Meat Export Federation allows some access

El Salvador lifted all age and product restrictions on USA beef, while Mexico Meat Export Federation allows some access




“El Salvador, a small but promising market in Central America, lifted all age and product restrictions on U.S. beef, eliminating the need for an export verification program.”



God help them. ...TSS





USMEF: Access expanded for U.S. beef in El Salvador, Mexico U.S. Meat Export Federation | September 4, 2012 ShareThis This article has not yet been rated.



Last week brought positive market access news for the U.S. beef industry in two Latin American markets. El Salvador, a small but promising market in Central America, lifted all age and product restrictions on U.S. beef, eliminating the need for an export verification program. Mexico, the largest volume destination for U.S. beef, is still limited to U.S. beef from cattle less than 30 months of age. However, the Mexican government has now agreed to allow import of four U.S. beef products that had been banned completely since 2003: small intestines, ground beef, head meat and weasand meat (which surrounds the esophagus).



Chad Russell, U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) regional director for Mexico, Central America and the Dominican Republic, explains that El Salvador is a potentially strong market, as it currently imports a significant amount of beef (about 28 million pounds last year) from Nicaragua. Having a wider range of products eligible for El Salvador will help USMEF capitalize on retail promotions in El Salvador’s rapidly growing number of modern supermarkets. Though small geographically, El Salvador is the most densely populated country in Central America with a population of about 6 million, and four of Central America’s 12 largest cities are located in El Salvador.



U.S. beef exports to El Salvador more than doubled in value between 2009 and 2011, reaching nearly $1.2 million last year. The pace of exports has slowed so far in 2012, but Russell says wider availability of products should help reverse that trend.



Mexico’s decision to expand the range of eligible U.S. beef products will also help grow exports, even with the under-30-month cattle age restriction remaining in place for the time being. Small intestines are likely to be a popular item for export to Mexico, but Russell says demand for ground beef is also strong.



While a weak peso and rising prices have slowed beef exports to Mexico this year, it still ranks first in volume and third in value among foreign destinations for U.S. beef. Through June, beef and beef variety exports to Mexico totaled nearly 229 million pounds valued at $446 million.











Wednesday, June 13, 2012



MEXICO IS UNDER or MIS DIAGNOSING CREUTZFELDT JAKOB DISEASE AND OTHER PRION DISEASE SOME WITH POSSIBLE nvCJD










Thursday, August 12, 2010


Seven main threats for the future linked to prions


First threat


The TSE road map defining the evolution of European policy for protection against prion diseases is based on a certain numbers of hypotheses some of which may turn out to be erroneous. In particular, a form of BSE (called atypical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy), recently identified by systematic testing in aged cattle without clinical signs, may be the origin of classical BSE and thus potentially constitute a reservoir, which may be impossible to eradicate if a sporadic origin is confirmed. ***Also, a link is suspected between atypical BSE and some apparently sporadic cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. These atypical BSE cases constitute an unforeseen first threat that could sharply modify the European approach to prion diseases.


Second threat


snip...








EFSA Journal 2011 The European Response to BSE: A Success Story


This is an interesting editorial about the Mad Cow Disease debacle, and it's ramifications that will continue to play out for decades to come ;


Monday, October 10, 2011


EFSA Journal 2011 The European Response to BSE: A Success Story


snip...


EFSA and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) recently delivered a scientific opinion on any possible epidemiological or molecular association between TSEs in animals and humans (EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ) and ECDC, 2011). This opinion confirmed Classical BSE prions as the only TSE agents demonstrated to be zoonotic so far but the possibility that a small proportion of human cases so far classified as "sporadic" CJD are of zoonotic origin could not be excluded. Moreover, transmission experiments to non-human primates suggest that some TSE agents in addition to Classical BSE prions in cattle (namely L-type Atypical BSE, Classical BSE in sheep, transmissible mink encephalopathy (TME) and chronic wasting disease (CWD) agents) might have zoonotic potential.


snip...












see follow-up here about North America BSE Mad Cow TSE prion risk factors, and the ever emerging strains of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy in many species here in the USA, including humans ;










2010-2011


When L-type BSE was inoculated into ovine transgenic mice and Syrian hamster the resulting molecular fingerprint had changed, either in the first or a subsequent passage, from L-type into C-type BSE. In addition, non-human primates are specifically susceptible for atypical BSE as demonstrated by an approximately 50% shortened incubation time for L-type BSE as compared to C-type. Considering the current scientific information available, it cannot be assumed that these different BSE types pose the same human health risks as C-type BSE or that these risks are mitigated by the same protective measures.


This study will contribute to a correct definition of specified risk material (SRM) in atypical BSE. The incumbent of this position will develop new and transfer existing, ultra-sensitive methods for the detection of atypical BSE in tissue of experimentally infected cattle.










Saturday, May 26, 2012


Are USDA assurances on mad cow case 'gross oversimplification'?


SNIP...


What irks many scientists is the USDA’s April 25 statement that the rare disease is “not generally associated with an animal consuming infected feed.”


The USDA’s conclusion is a “gross oversimplification,” said Dr. Paul Brown, one of the world’s experts on this type of disease who retired recently from the National Institutes of Health. "(The agency) has no foundation on which to base that statement.”


“We can’t say it’s not feed related,” agreed Dr. Linda Detwiler, an official with the USDA during the Clinton Administration now at Mississippi State.


In the May 1 email to me, USDA’s Cole backed off a bit. “No one knows the origins of atypical cases of BSE,” she said


The argument about feed is critical because if feed is the cause, not a spontaneous mutation, the California cow could be part of a larger outbreak.


SNIP...








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Saturday, August 4, 2012


Final Feed Investigation Summary - California BSE Case - July 2012






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SUMMARY REPORT CALIFORNIA BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY CASE INVESTIGATION JULY 2012


Summary Report BSE 2012


Executive Summary










Saturday, August 4, 2012


Update from APHIS Regarding Release of the Final Report on the BSE Epidemiological Investigation










Friday, May 18, 2012


Update from APHIS Regarding a Detection of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in the United States Friday May 18, 2012










2011 Monday, September 26, 2011



L-BSE BASE prion and atypical sporadic CJD









Tuesday, June 26, 2012


Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease Human TSE report update North America, Canada, Mexico, and USDA PRION UNIT as of May 18, 2012


type determination pending Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (tdpCJD), is on the rise in Canada and the USA










Monday, July 23, 2012
 


The National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center July 2012










2012


***Also, a link is suspected between atypical BSE and some apparently sporadic cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.
 
 

These atypical BSE cases constitute an unforeseen first threat that could sharply modify the European approach to prion diseases.


Second threat


snip...








MAD COW USDA ATYPICAL L-TYPE BASE BSE, the rest of the story...




***Oral Transmission of L-type Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in Primate Model








***Infectivity in skeletal muscle of BASE-infected cattle








***feedstuffs- It also suggests a similar cause or source for atypical BSE in these countries.








***Also, a link is suspected between atypical BSE and some apparently sporadic cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.








The present study demonstrated successful intraspecies transmission of H-type BSE to cattle and the distribution and immunolabeling patterns of PrPSc in the brain of the H-type BSE-challenged cattle. TSE agent virulence can be minimally defined by oral transmission of different TSE agents (C-type, L-type, and H-type BSE agents) [59]. Oral transmission studies with H-type BSEinfected cattle have been initiated and are underway to provide information regarding the extent of similarity in the immunohistochemical and molecular features before and after transmission.


In addition, the present data will support risk assessments in some peripheral tissues derived from cattle affected with H-type BSE.








Sunday, August 26, 2012


Detection of PrPSc in peripheral tissues of clinically affected cattle after oral challenge with BSE










TSS

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