U.S. Expands BSE Testing Program in Cows

Following an identified U.S. case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA, Washington, DC, USA) has announced an expansion in its program of testing cows.

The USDA plans to test approximately 400,000 cows over the next 12-18 months and has licensed the rapid BSE test of Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (Hercules, CA, USA; www.bio-rad.com). Called TeSeE, the test is for use by the U.S. National Veterinary Service Laboratories (Ames, IA, USA), which will do the actual testing.

"We are pleased that our test has met the stringent requirements of the USDA qualification process,” remarked Brad Crutchfield, vice president of Life Science at Bio-Rad. "Bio-Rad has extensive experience working with more than 500 labs in 25 countries around the world that screen for BSE.”

Bio-Rad's test detects the presence of the resistant form of prion protein, or PrPres, linked to BSE and can identify these prions at extremely low levels. The capability to detect very low levels of prions helps ensure that BSE-infected animals do not go undetected. The BSE test is also the easiest testing method to adapt to mass screening programs, according to the company. The test runs on an automated robotics platform and can produce results in just four hours, or can process up to 1,000 samples in eight hours.

"The test's speed, ease-of-use, high degree of sensitivity and accuracy have placed it in the highest scientific regard and will aid in the USDA's efforts to conduct a reliable and highly effective surveillance program,” added Mr. Crutchfield.

Bio-Rad is the leading provider of tests for detecting diseases in the field of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), having provided more than 22 million BSE tests to laboratories throughout Europe and Japan. The company also supplies tests for other TSEs, including chronic wasting disease (CWD), found in deer and elk.

"In Colorado, we have tested nearly 47,000 deer and elk in the last 18 months using Bio-Rad's CWD test,” said Dr. Barbara Powers, director of Colorado State University's Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, who worked closely with the Colorado Division of Wildlife on the 2002 field validation studies of Bio-Rad's CWD test. "The test has proven to be extremely accurate, fast, very easy to perform, and it is also efficient and cost effective,” Dr. Powers added.




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