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    THE BridgeNews FORUM: On farming, farm policy 
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  * Cattle-Tracing Program Finds Kinfolk Of A Rogue 'Mad Cow,' 
    As British Beef Industry's Nightmare Nears Its End 
  
  
    By David Walker, agricultural economist 
    BridgeNews 
    Norwich, England--Of all the hoops that British cattle farmers have  
jumped through to restore confidence in beef since the mad-cow disease  
epidemic, the system of individual cattle passports has been the most  
maligned. 
  
    But there is justice, now that this identification system has played an  
important role in tracking down the kinfolk of a cow recently found to have  
the disease despite being born after precautions were put in place to prevent  
its spread through contaminated feed. 
  
    This is a critical time for the British beef industry. It is working to  
regain the public confidence it has lost since the epidemic of mad cow  
disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). 
  
    It is generally accepted that BSE is transmitted through the feeding of  
meat and bone meal produced from infected cattle. The recent discovery of the  
diseased cow has been particularly worrying for the industry, because it is  
the first case among cattle born after a complete ban on the feeding of meat  
and bone meal was introduced on Aug. 1, 1996. 
  
    The government announced the case a scant two days after the diagnosis  
had been made, fearing a repeat of past accusations of cover-up and  
incompetence. During those two days, it had been possible through the records 
of the cattle passport office -- the British Cattle Movement Service -- to  
identify and locate the cow's mother and offspring, her date of birth and  
original owner. 
  
    This was a triumph for Britain's cattle-tracing program. All British  
cattle have 30-page individual passports, about the same size as a person's  
European Union passport. It is, however, a much more comprehensive document,  
because it records all movements or changes in ownership of an animal, which  
are in turn reported to a central agency. 
  
    Naturally, some cattle farmers have doubted the value and effectiveness  
of so much paperwork. It must have been a surprise to some and a relief to  
others that the proverbial needle in the haystack was found so promptly. Not  
only was it possible to find the diseased cow's record among more than 4.6  
million registered passports, but its movement between four owners had been  
fully reported. 
  
    The media were unusually accepting of scientific opinion that the case  
did not post a risk to food and that isolated cases of this nature were to be  
expected. The speed and precision with which the tracing system had operated  
could only have created confidence that the British government was on top of  
the situation. 
  
    This is reassuring evidence that the unfortunate saga is, indeed, coming  
to an end. 
  
    BSE reached epidemic proportions in Britain in the early 1990s. A  
possible link with new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (nvCJD), a rare but  
fatal human disease, was suggested in March 1996. An immediate ban on British  
cattle and beef exports was imposed and cattle prices everywhere dropped out  
of sight as beef was left on retail counters in the face of very adverse  
publicity. 
  
    The ban on feeding meat and bone meal and the passport system were two  
programs in an elaborate web of safety measures put in place. These programs  
were set up to ensure that there was no risk of human infection (even if such  
a link with nvCJD did exist) and to allay consumers' fears and meet EU food  
safety requirements. 
  
    While the link between BSE and the feeding of meat and bone meal is  
generally accepted, there has always been concern that the disease also could  
be transmitted from cow to calf. Research has not closed the door on this  
possibility, particularly if the cow developed BSE symptoms soon after it had  
calved. The French have even raised the possibility of a mysterious ''third  
way'' of transmitting the disease. 
  
    The cow in question was born on Aug. 25, 1996, three and a half weeks  
after the feed ban was imposed and on a farm that also raised pigs. The  
chance that the cow, as a calf, was inadvertently fed pig ration containing  
infected meat and bone meal produced before Aug. 1, 1996, seems as credible  
as the first confirmed case of maternal transmission. The mother, although  
not diagnosed as having BSE, was slaughtered just three months after she  
calved. 
  
    The British State Veterinary Service is investigating the latest case but  
is unlikely to unearth convincing evidence almost four years after the event.  
The farmer is reported as not remembering why the mother of the cow was  
slaughtered. 
  
    In retrospect, it was too neat to be credible that no cattle born after  
the 1996 feed ban had been diagnosed with BSE fully two years after they  
could be expected to begin to show symptoms. As many as 19 such cases had  
been forecast to occur before the end of 2000. This suggests that either  
maternal transmission is less of a factor than earlier thought, or that the  
removal of infected meat and bone meal from farms had been more effective  
than expected. 
  
    Less than a week after the latest case, British Agriculture Minister Nick  
Brown was able to say that it ''confirms my confidence in the  
public-protection measures we currently have in place and in our surveillance  
systems.'' He also reaffirmed plans to seek a relaxation of EU restrictions  
on the export of bone-in beef from Britain. 
  
    Although the incidence of BSE in Britain has been on the decline for  
almost 10 years, any news of domestic BSE cases has until now been bad news  
for the British cattle industry. The most recent incident confirms a positive  
change in the British public's attitude, first evident last year when the  
nation's sympathy was with its cattle farmers over France's refusal to lift  
its illegal ban on British beef imports. 
  
    There is hope that this change will be reflected in increased consumer  
confidence in beef, greater demand, and in beef regaining its status as the  
preferred meat. But more important is the public's apparent acceptance of  
scientific opinion. 
  
    Recognition of the role that the scientific community played in turning  
the BSE situation around would improve public confidence in its ability to  
contribute to society at large -- something that has suffered greatly since  
the epidemic began.   End 
  
    DAVID WALKER, an agricultural economist, lives on his family's farm  
outside Norwich, England. He recently served as senior economist in London  
for the Home-Grown Cereals Authority and previously was executive director of  
the Alberta Grain Commission in Canada. He also maintains a Web site at  
http://www.openi.co.uk/. His views are not necessarily those of BridgeNews, whose  
ventures include the Internet site http://www.bridge.com/. 
  
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200 Vesey St.,  28th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10281-1009. You may also call  
(212) 372-7510, fax (212)  372-2707 or send e-mail to opinion@bridge.com. 
  
    EDITORS: A color photo of the author is available from KRT Photo Service. 
  
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