Oldtimer
Well-known member
June 29, 2005
World's Preeminent BSE Scientist and 1997 Nobel Prize Winner Prepares Declaration in Support of R-CALF USA
(Billings, Mont.) – R-CALF USA today filed its reply brief in its litigation against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) minimal risk region rule that would allow imports of cattle and beef from countries with BSE, specifically Canada.
The brief was filed this morning in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. In support of its brief, R-CALF USA also submitted declarations prepared by four renowned scientists, including a declaration prepared by Stanley B. Prusiner, M.D. – winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize for medicine – and the world's preeminent expert in the field of neurodegenerative diseases caused by prions, the infectious protein that causes BSE. Prusiner's 10-page declaration provides clear scientific evidence in support of R-CALF USA's position in its litigation against USDA.
Currently, Prusiner is the director of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, a neurology professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and founder of InPro Biotechnology, Inc.
In 1997, Prusiner was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his discovery of the infectious protein agents (which he named "prions") that cause fatal neurodegenerative diseases such as BSE in cattle, scrapie in sheep, chronic wasting disease in deer and elk, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in humans, as well as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) in humans. The human prion disease vCJD is caused by ingestion of BSE-infected beef and beef products.
"Policy makers need to take immediate and aggressive measures to minimize and mitigate the risk of prion transmission between animals and humans," Prusiner noted in his declaration. "In doing so, this will ensure the safety of our food supply."
Other scientists joining Prusiner in support of R-CALF USA's litigation and whose written declarations also were filed today with R-CALF USA's reply brief were: Louis Anthony Cox, Jr., Ph.D., a Colorado statistician who examined the BSE risk to the United States by resuming beef imports from Canada; Gail Charnley, Ph.D., an internationally recognized scientist specializing in environmental health risk assessment and risk management science and policy; and, Gary A. Weaver, D.V.M., Ph.D., Esq., a Senior Fellow at the Center for Food and Nutrition Policy at Virginia Tech, whose areas of expertise include agroterrorism, bioterrorism, animal health, food safety and security.
"USDA is working to relax longstanding health and safety standards designed to prevent the introduction and spread of BSE, contrary to the advice of scientists like Prusiner, Cox, Charnley and Weaver," said R-CALF USA President and Co-Founder Leo McDonnell. "R-CALF is doing what USDA should have done before it published its Final Rule – we are consulting with scientific experts to determine what should be the appropriate BSE prevention policy for the United States."
Note: R-CALF USA's reply brief, along with the declarations prepared by Prusiner, Cox, Charnley and Weaver, are available in their entirety by logging on to: http://www.r-calfusa.com and clicking "BSE-Litigation."
World's Preeminent BSE Scientist and 1997 Nobel Prize Winner Prepares Declaration in Support of R-CALF USA
(Billings, Mont.) – R-CALF USA today filed its reply brief in its litigation against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) minimal risk region rule that would allow imports of cattle and beef from countries with BSE, specifically Canada.
The brief was filed this morning in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. In support of its brief, R-CALF USA also submitted declarations prepared by four renowned scientists, including a declaration prepared by Stanley B. Prusiner, M.D. – winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize for medicine – and the world's preeminent expert in the field of neurodegenerative diseases caused by prions, the infectious protein that causes BSE. Prusiner's 10-page declaration provides clear scientific evidence in support of R-CALF USA's position in its litigation against USDA.
Currently, Prusiner is the director of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, a neurology professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and founder of InPro Biotechnology, Inc.
In 1997, Prusiner was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his discovery of the infectious protein agents (which he named "prions") that cause fatal neurodegenerative diseases such as BSE in cattle, scrapie in sheep, chronic wasting disease in deer and elk, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in humans, as well as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) in humans. The human prion disease vCJD is caused by ingestion of BSE-infected beef and beef products.
"Policy makers need to take immediate and aggressive measures to minimize and mitigate the risk of prion transmission between animals and humans," Prusiner noted in his declaration. "In doing so, this will ensure the safety of our food supply."
Other scientists joining Prusiner in support of R-CALF USA's litigation and whose written declarations also were filed today with R-CALF USA's reply brief were: Louis Anthony Cox, Jr., Ph.D., a Colorado statistician who examined the BSE risk to the United States by resuming beef imports from Canada; Gail Charnley, Ph.D., an internationally recognized scientist specializing in environmental health risk assessment and risk management science and policy; and, Gary A. Weaver, D.V.M., Ph.D., Esq., a Senior Fellow at the Center for Food and Nutrition Policy at Virginia Tech, whose areas of expertise include agroterrorism, bioterrorism, animal health, food safety and security.
"USDA is working to relax longstanding health and safety standards designed to prevent the introduction and spread of BSE, contrary to the advice of scientists like Prusiner, Cox, Charnley and Weaver," said R-CALF USA President and Co-Founder Leo McDonnell. "R-CALF is doing what USDA should have done before it published its Final Rule – we are consulting with scientific experts to determine what should be the appropriate BSE prevention policy for the United States."
Note: R-CALF USA's reply brief, along with the declarations prepared by Prusiner, Cox, Charnley and Weaver, are available in their entirety by logging on to: http://www.r-calfusa.com and clicking "BSE-Litigation."
