Mad Cow Disease
Australia is in the enviable position of having not had Mad Cow Disease (also called Bovine Spongioform Encephalopathy or BSE) diagnosed in its cattle herd. BSE is spread by feeding infected offal or meat based products to cows. This practice has now been banned in Australia.To maintain a "clear" status Australia's trading partners require us to show that we are regularly monitoring the status of our national herd for freedom from this disease. To do so we need to be testing animals that show any symptoms which may be indicative of the presence of BSE even though it has never been seen here (if you don't look for it, how do you know you don't have it).
The government has asked veterinarians to select animals for this monitoring program, which show one or more signs of diseases affecting the nervous system. This involves collecting blood samples and completing detailed submissions on their history and clinical signs. If these animals do not respond to normal treatment, the government is prepared to pay the farmer $150 to have the brain removed by a veterinarian. This is regardless of the confidence with which the attending veterinarian has diagnosed the clinical condition. Your help would be appreciated in bringing to our attention such animals.
Click here to view the rest of the 1999 April newsletter.