NEWS RELEASE l Ohio Department of Agriculture
Governor Bob Taft Lieutenant Governor Bruce Johnson Director Fred L. Dailey		Communications Office 8995 East Main Street • Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068 Phone: 614-752-9817 • Fax 614-466-7754 ODA URL: www.ohioagriculture.gov • e-mail: agri@agri.ohio.gov

June 24, 2005, 7 p.m.

Statement from Ohio Agriculture Director on Single Case of BSE in the U.S.

Fred L. Dailey, Director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, issued the following statement today:

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today said the risk to human health and the likelihood of BSE spreading in the U.S. cattle herd remains remote despite a newly confirmed single case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as “mad cow disease.”

I want to echo his comments and encourage Ohio consumers to be interested and aware but not alarmed.

The U.S. government, with the full participation of state governments, cattle producers and the meat processing industry, has for many years been building regulatory “firewalls” to protect against the introduction and spread of BSE in the U.S. as part of the most comprehensive food safety system in the world. Additional safeguards that were put in place after the first U.S. mad cow disease case in Dec. 2003 worked to keep all parts of the cow out of the human and animal food chains.

Ohio’s preventative activities include the following:

• State and federal personnel in Ohio collect bovine animal tissue samples from high-risk cattle for testing at the federal lab in Ames, Iowa. Ohio has sent 4,462 brain tissue samples since June 2004.
• ODA’s Meat Inspection Division conducts pre-slaughter inspection of every animal that is processed in 89 state inspected slaughter facilities, looking for signs of disease and rejecting all animals appearing unfit for consumption. No cattle showing signs of a central nervous system disorder is allowed to be slaughtered for consumption. All high-risk cattle and “downers” are tested.
• ODA’s Plant Industry Division inspects feed manufacturers for proper labeling to keep mammalian tissue out of cattle feed. Contaminated cattle feed is the only known avenue for disease transmission among cattle. In 2004, the department completed 175 inspections of feed manufacturers for label compliance under contract with the FDA.
• ODA’s Animal Industry Division conducts regular inspections of each renderer in Ohio to ensure compliance with the 1997 federal ruminant-to-ruminant feed ban.

Ohio is implementing all the regulatory firewalls and protective measures available to assure the local food supply is safe.

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Media Contact: Melanie Wilt, ODA Communications, 614-752-9817 or 937-604-9210,

 or LeeAnne Mizer, 614-510-3938.