Michael Hansen Quotes (6 Quotes)

This latest case of mad cow disease in Canada points to a significant North American mad cow problem.

This shows that feed restrictions in place in Canada, and similar restrictions in the United States, are simply not adequate to control the spread of this disease.

The Western blot test, which concentrates the brain sample, can detect mad cow disease in an animal at an earlier stage of infection. It is used in virtually all European countries and Japan.

We must also increase the USDA surveillance program, which is testing just one percent of all animals slaughtered in the United States. We think USDA should be testing all animals over 20 months at slaughter. But at a minimum, USDA should test all high-risk cattle, and all cattle from Western Canada, from the Pacific Northwest and from Texas, where cases have been identified.

Based on this new research, if just one infected cow entered the U.S. feed supply and the brain and spinal cord of that animal were maximally dispersed in feed, it could potentially infect 45,000 other cows. That's why we have to be extremely vigilant about keeping any infected animal material out of feed and food.

We may only average three to five (tremors) a year, but each one adds a piece to the puzzle.