"Eradicate" wasting disease, FDA chief says
The
Food and Drug Administration's top official called Monday for eliminating
chronic wasting disease among deer and elk before it has a chance to infect the
nation's beef supply.
"We probably should try to eradicate it. There's no
reason you couldn't stop it," said Deputy FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford.
"It's not something you want in the livestock herds."
FDA is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to
determine how extensively CWD has spread, and is considering new regulations,
Crawford said. There is no proof
cattle can contract the fatal disease, but scientists and others say more
research is vital.
"There's every reason to be concerned that we control
it and confine it now that we have the opportunity," said Crawford, a
veterinarian who is running the FDA until a new commissioner is appointed.
Crawford's comments come on the heels of a request by U.S. Sen. Wayne
Allard of Colorado for federal assistance in fighting the disease. Last week, in
letters to the directors of the departments of Agriculture and Interior, Allard
suggested more federal staffing and money be directed toward CWD.
"Senator Allard applauds the FDA director for coming
out and making this statement," said Allard spokesman Sean Conway. Colorado
wildlife officials couldn't be reached for a reaction to Crawford's call to
"eliminate" CWD. But they have suggested in the past that ridding the
wild of CWD altogether would be difficult. Instead, biologists are trying to
limit its spread by shooting deer located in "hot spots," where the
disease exists in greater concentrations.
Chronic wasting disease, like mad cow disease, is one of a
family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Unlike
with mad cow, scientists don't have evidence that CWD can infect humans, though
research into the question is ongoing.
Crawford's comments also follow last week's disclosure of
the first U.S. case of mad cow disease. Mad cow, or bovine spongiform
encephalopathy, is linked to a human illness called new variant Creutzfeld-Jakob
disease. The first U.S. victim, who
lives in Florida, is believed to have contracted it in Great Britain.
Also Monday, a Minnesota official said the federal government needs to
work with state governments to restrict the shipping of domestic deer and elk.
William Hueston, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Animal
Health and Food Safety, complained of "a patchwork of regulations across
the nation."
Source: Rocky Mountain News
April 23, 2002
