Beef 'no threat'

State veterinarian says recall only precautionary measure

By DANIEL SPOTH-Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU -- Despite nationwide concerns about the recently observed case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, better known as "mad cow disease," in Washington state, Alaska residents remain at little risk.

"I have no concerns about the safety of our meat supply," said Douglas Warner, market development specialist for the state. Warner sees the recent BSE case in Washington as rather a signal that the current screening process used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture is working correctly.

"There's a system in place to detect the spread of cattle diseases, and this instance shows us that this system is working," he said Friday. Bob Gerlach, the Alaska state veterinarian, also noted that the current sampling rate of potentially contaminated beef in the United States is five times above the amount required by law.

There have been more than 180,000 recorded cases of BSE worldwide since its original diagnosis by scientists in Great Britain in 1986. More than 95 percent of BSE cases have occurred in the United Kingdom, and the Dec. 9 discovery of BSE-contaminated meat on a Washington farm is the first recorded case in the United States. Though farmers and health safety agents in Washington are performing close scrutiny of the export and import of the state's meat, such measures are only being performed as an added precaution in Alaska.

Vern's Moses Lake Meats company in Moses Lake, Wash., is currently performing a voluntary recall of 10,410 pounds of possibly infected raw meat from the market; Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, Idaho and Guam are included in this recall. Though Gerlach stated that no infected meat was shipped directly to Alaska from Washington, the USDA is concerned that infected meat might have reached the state through tertiary distributors.

Though some meat slated to be recalled may have reached Alaska, there is no guarantee that this is the case, and no evidence to suggest that the meat may have come from the single BSE-positive cow in Washington. Gerlach said Monday that he could offer "no confirmation that any infected meat has entered into the state of Alaska."

Although many supermarket chains and local grocers in the state regularly import meat from Washington for sale in Alaska, the comparatively long transit time for imported meat means a reduced risk for Alaskans. Thus, Gerlach is confident that there is no need for the state to impose any ban or limit on its import of meat from the Lower 48.

"I don't have any information that would lead me to believe that we should ban the import of any live animals or animal products," Gerlach said. Thus far, the only states that have imposed such limits on imported meat are Colorado and Nevada. These states' temporary ban on purchase of meat from Washington was lifted Wednesday.

The largest problem currently facing the Department of Agriculture is the necessity of tracing the life history of the infected specimen to determine the possible origin of the American outbreak of the disease. Gerlach estimates that this process could take up to eight weeks, owing to BSE's extended incubation time of two to eight years.

Though the Alaska-Canada borders have been closed to any meat import and export following the discovery of a BSE-positive cow in Alberta on May 21 of last year, Gerlach sees no reason to impose a similar restriction on meat from the Lower 48. "We consider this an isolated case," he said.

Gerlach also stated that any consumers wishing to track the origins of their meat are encouraged to call the supermarket at which they purchased the meat in question. Any suspicions of contaminated meat or requests for more information should be directed to the committee managing the Moses Lake recall at 1-888-674-6854.