What steps is USDA taking in response to the detection?
USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) has taken the following actions: * USDA has banned all non-ambulatory disabled (downer) cattle from the human food chain effective immediately. * FSIS inspectors will no longer mark cattle targeted for testing under the Mad Cow Disease, or BSE, surveillance program as “inspected and passed” until confirmation is received that the animals have, in fact, tested negative for BSE. This new policy is in the form of an interpretive rule that was published January 8, 2004 in the Federal Register. It is important to note that FSIS inspection program personnel have always – and will continue to – perform ante- and post-mortem inspection of cattle that are slaughtered in the United States. As part of the ante-mortem inspection, FSIS personnel look for Mad Cow Disease symptoms, including signs of central nervous system impairment. Animals showing Mad Cow Disease symptoms, including those exhibiting signs of neurological impairment, are condemned and do
