Atypical Cases of BSE in Brazil Raise Concerns in the U.S.

by Colter Brown

This past weekend, two cases of atypical Bovine Spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease were confirmed in Brazil, causing a suspension of Brazilian beef exports to China.

Atypical BSE develops spontaneously in cattle and is not caused by animals eating contaminated foods. The cases occurred in two separate meat plants in Brazil but the World Organization for Animal Health maintained Brazil’s status as “negligible risk” for BSE.

Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of beef and maintains a 40% market share of China’s beef imports. Reuters reports that Brazil suspended its own exports to China as part of an agreement with their top buyer. After a similar case was found in 2019, Brazil suspended exports to China for just 10 days. The current suspension of exports is also expected to be short lived, but the confirmation of BSE in Brazil quickly grabbed the attention of ranchers and ag producer organizations.

Montana Farmers Union said that this development underscores the need for Country of Origin Labeling (COOL). In a statement, MFU said that, “Given that JBS – a wholly-owned Brazilian company – processes 19 percent of all American beef, the threat of Brazilian mad cow entering the United States is significant. In 2020, Brazil imported 131,000,000 pounds of beef to the United States.”

“Historically, Brazil has had quality control issues in their beef with a suspension of imports from 2017-2018. Montana Farmers Union asks our elected officials, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to ensure investigations into these Mad Cow cases. Cattle ranchers are well aware of the fall-out with our beef testing for Mad Cow and the cost of losing priceless export partners. We must proactively protect our ranchers.”

“Without mandatory Country of Origin Labeling in the United States for beef or pork,” the statement continued. “American consumers are left unable to determine where their beef is truly coming from in light of the two cases in Brazil. Montana Farmer’s Union supported and advocated for COOL legislation at the 67th State Legislative Session, which failed to pass. COOL needs federal support and to be passed into law by Congress.”

“I think we should shut down all imports of beef from Brazil until we study the cause and confirm that it is ‘atypical,’” said Walter Schweitzer, President of Montana Farmers Union. “Now we have had three separate cows from the same region of Brazil test positive to mad cow. Brazil would like us to think it is spontaneous, but I am not so sure.  American consumers are at risk, and because we do not have MCOOL, there is no way for the consumer to know if they are eating a Brazilian hamburger and if it is free of mad cow.”

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Chief Executive Officer Colin Woodall commented on the cases saying that atypical cases of BSE are very rare and are believed to occur spontaneously. These cases occurred outside the United States and do not pose a risk to American consumers—U.S. beef is safe.

“Given Brazil’s history of failing to report BSE cases in a timely manner,” Woodall said. “We must remain vigilant in enforcing our safeguards and holding them accountable. The U.S. has the highest animal health and food safety standards in the world. We must make sure that all countries wishing to export beef to the U.S. continue to meet our standards—even a country with a small footprint like Brazil. We have full faith and confidence in the abilities of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to enforce our safety standards and trade rules to protect America’s cattle producers and consumers.”

“NCBA encourages USDA to examine Brazil and to continue implementing science-based safeguards that ensure all imported beef meets the same rigorous science-based food safety and animal health standards as American beef.”

 

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NCBA/MFU/Northern Ag Network

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Terry Singeltary

rightfully so. science shows this, and in fact the OIE says;

Conclusions on transmissibility of atypical BSE among cattle

Given that cattle have been successfully infected by the oral route, at least for L-BSE, it is reasonable to conclude that atypical BSE is potentially capable of being recycled in a cattle population if cattle are exposed to contaminated feed. In addition, based on reports of atypical BSE from several countries that have not had C-BSE, it appears likely that atypical BSE would arise as a spontaneous disease in any country, albeit at a very low incidence in old cattle. In the presence of livestock industry practices that would allow it to be recycled in the cattle feed chain, it is likely that some level of exposure and transmission may occur. As a result, since atypical BSE can be reasonably considered to pose a potential background level of risk for any country with cattle, the recycling of both classical and atypical strains in the cattle and broader ruminant populations should be avoided. 

https://www.oie.int/fileadmin/SST/adhocreports/Bovine%20spongiform%20encephalopathy/AN/A_AhG_BSEsurv_RiskAss_Mar2019.pdf

***> Consumption of L-BSE–contaminated feed may pose a risk for oral transmission of the disease agent to cattle.

***> As a result, since atypical BSE can be reasonably considered to pose a potential background level of risk for any country with cattle, the recycling of both classical and atypical strains in the cattle and broader ruminant populations should be avoided. 

***> This study demonstrates that the H-type BSE agent is transmissible by the oronasal route. 

***> These results reinforce the need for ongoing surveillance for classical and atypical BSE to minimize the risk of potentially infectious tissues entering the animal or human food chains.

Atypical L-type BSE

Emerg Infect Dis. 2017 Feb; 23(2): 284–287. doi: 10.3201/eid2302.161416 PMCID: PMC5324790 PMID: 28098532

Oral Transmission of L-Type Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Agent among Cattle 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5324790/

Our study clearly confirms, experimentally, the potential risk for interspecies oral transmission of the agent of L-BSE. In our model, this risk appears higher than that for the agent of classical BSE, which could only be transmitted to mouse lemurs after a first passage in macaques (14). We report oral transmission of the L-BSE agent in young and adult primates. Transmission by the IC route has also been reported in young macaques (6,7). A previous study of L-BSE in transgenic mice expressing human PrP suggested an absence of any transmission barrier between cattle and humans for this particular strain of the agent of BSE, in contrast to findings for the agent of classical BSE (9). Thus, it is imperative to maintain measures that prevent the entry of tissues from cattle possibly infected with the agent of L-BSE into the food chain.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3310119/

Atypical H-type BSE

Research Project: Pathobiology, Genetics, and Detection of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Location: Virus and Prion Research

Title: The agent of H-type bovine spongiform encephalopathy associated with E211K prion protein polymorphism transmits after oronasal challenge

This study demonstrates that the H-type BSE agent is transmissible by the oronasal route. 

These results reinforce the need for ongoing surveillance for classical and atypical BSE to minimize the risk of potentially infectious tissues entering the animal or human food chains.

https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publication/?seqNo115=353094

P98 The agent of H-type bovine spongiform encephalopathy associated with E211K prion protein polymorphism transmits after oronasal challenge 

Greenlee JJ (1), Moore SJ (1), and West Greenlee MH (2) (1) United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Animal Disease Center, Virus and Prion Research Unit, Ames, IA, United States (2) Department of Biomedical Sciences, Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Ames, IA, United States. 

With the experiment currently at 55 months post-inoculation, no other cattle in this study have developed clinical signs suggestive of prion disease. This study demonstrates that the H-type BSE agent is transmissible by the oronasal route. 

These results reinforce the need for ongoing surveillance for classical and atypical BSE to minimize the risk of potentially infectious tissues entering the animal or human food chains. 

PRION CONFERENCE 2018 CONFERENCE ABSTRACT

Published: 23 June 2011

Experimental H-type bovine spongiform encephalopathy characterized by plaques and glial- and stellate-type prion protein deposits

The present study demonstrated successful intraspecies transmission of H-type BSE to cattle and the distribution and immunolabeling patterns of PrPSc in the brain of the H-type BSE-challenged cattle. TSE agent virulence can be minimally defined by oral transmission of different TSE agents (C-type, L-type, and H-type BSE agents) [59]. Oral transmission studies with H-type BSE-infected cattle have been initiated and are underway to provide information regarding the extent of similarity in the immunohistochemical and molecular features before and after transmission. In addition, the present data will support risk assessments in some peripheral tissues derived from cattle affected with H-type BSE.

References…END

https://veterinaryresearch.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1297-9716-42-79

2.3.2. New evidence on the zoonotic potential of atypical BSE and atypical scrapie prion strains

PLEASE NOTE;

2.3.2. New evidence on the zoonotic potential of atypical BSE and atypical scrapie prion strainsNo

Olivier Andreoletti, INRA Research Director, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) – École Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse (ENVT), invited speaker, presented the results of two recently published scientific articles of interest, of which he is co-author: ‘Radical Change in Zoonotic Abilities of Atypical BSE Prion Strains as Evidenced by Crossing of Sheep Species Barrier in Transgenic Mice’ (MarinMoreno et al., 2020) and ‘The emergence of classical BSE from atypical/Nor98 scrapie’ (Huor et al., 2019).

In the first experimental study, H-type and L-type BSE were inoculated into transgenic mice expressing all three genotypes of the human PRNP at codon 129 and into adapted into ARQ and VRQ transgenic sheep mice. The results showed the alterations of the capacities to cross the human barrier species (mouse model) and emergence of sporadic CJD agents in Hu PrP expressing mice: type 2 sCJD in homozygous TgVal129 VRQ-passaged L-BSE, and type 1 sCJD in homozygous TgVal 129 and TgMet129 VRQ-passaged H-BSE. 

https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/sp.efsa.2020.EN-1946

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2021 

Brazil Confirms TWO More Cases of Mad Cow Disease BSE States of Mato Grosso and Minas Gerais 

https://animalhealthreportpriontse.blogspot.com/2021/09/brazil-confirms-two-more-cases-of-mad.html

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 07, 2021 

Atypical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy BSE OIE, FDA 589.2001 FEED REGULATIONS, and Ingestion Therefrom

https://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2021/09/atypical-bovine-spongiform.html

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2021 

Brazil investigating two possible cases of mad cow disease in humans

https://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2021/11/brazil-investigating-two-possible-cases.html

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2021 

Brazil Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease CJD TSE Prion Update 2021

https://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2021/11/brazil-creutzfeldt-jakob-disease-cjd.html

kind regards, terry

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