020302 Senators Look to Tighten Defenses From Mad Cow

Washington - U.S. farm senators are expected to announce legislation that would broaden the government's feed ban for cattle, imposed as the first line of defense from the spread of the deadly mad cow disease, a congressional aide said.

The actions came in response to a congressional report detailing the effectiveness of the Food and Drug Administration's five-year-old ban on feeding cattle remains of animals susceptible to mad cow. The report by the General Accounting Office was released this week.

Mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), was believed to have spread from Britain to other European countries when the bones, spinal cord and other remains of diseased cattle were ground up for use in livestock feed.

Although the United States has never found a case of mad cow disease, consumer groups have urged the Bush administration to implement stronger government regulations.

A recent report by Harvard University found that mad cow disease would most likely spread to the United States due to weak spots in FDA's cattle feed ban.

FDA officials said in April the agency was considering a number of ways to tighten its ban, including the prohibition of chicken litter and restaurant leftovers from cattle feed.

Consumer advocates said the FDA should prohibit the industry from using any animal remains to feed livestock.

Senators Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, and Republican Richard Lugar of Indiana requested that GAO review FDA's feed ban. Durbin was expected to announce new legislation broadening the ban.

A spokesman for Harkin said the senator also supported additional regulations.

More than 100 people in Britain, France and Ireland have died from or been diagnosed with the human version, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), after consuming infected meat.

Last year, Purina Mills Inc. notified federal officials after it suspected a mix-up with cattle feed that contained protein from animals susceptible to mad cow disease. Officials determined that 1,222 cattle in Texas ate a small amount of the prohibited material, but that the chance it was contaminated was unlikely.

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