[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 180 (Thursday, September 17, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 49685]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-24888]


 ========================================================================
 Notices
                                                 Federal Register
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
 and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, 
 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
 statements of organization and functions are examples of documents 
 appearing in this section.
 
 ========================================================================
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 180 / Thursday, September 17, 1998 / 
Notices  

[[Page 49685]]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. 98-043N]


Meeting on Risk Analysis for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy 
(BSE) in the United States

AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service; Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Animal 
and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) are announcing that they 
will hold a public meeting to assess Department of Agriculture (USDA) 
measures to prevent Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) from 
entering the United States and endangering the U.S. food supply. On 
April 24, 1998, USDA entered into a cooperative agreement with Harvard 
University's School of Public Health to conduct a risk analysis to 
assess the potential pathways for entry into U.S. cattle and the U.S. 
food supply, to evaluate existing regulations and policies, and to 
identify any additional measures that could be taken to protect human 
and animal health. This meeting will provide an opportunity for public 
input and a chance to comment on the scope of the BSE risk analysis 
project.

DATES: The meeting will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on 
September 28, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The September 28 meeting will be held at the National Rural 
Electric Cooperative Association, 4301 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 
22203-1850; telephone (703) 907-5500. To register for the meeting, 
contact Ms. Jennifer Callahan by telephone at (202) 501-7251 or by FAX 
at (202) 501-7642. If a sign language interpreter or other special 
accommodation is needed, contact Ms. Callahan at the above numbers by 
September 21, 1998. Persons wishing to present technical data at the 
public meeting are asked to bring 100 copies of their data for 
distribution to participants in the meeting and to submit one original 
and two copies of the data to the FSIS Docket Clerk, Room 102, Cotton 
Annex Building, 300 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20250-3700. All 
other written comments should be submitted to the FSIS Docket Clerk at 
the above address.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Ruth Etzel, Director, 
Epidemiology and Risk Assessment Division, Office of Public Health and 
Science, at (202) 501-7472 or by FAX at (202) 501-6982.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: BSE is a progressive neurological disorder 
of cattle that results from infection by an unknown transmissible 
agent. Although the nature of the transmissible agent is unknown, a 
theory which has gained increasing acceptance is that the agent is a 
modified form of a normal cell surface component known as the prion 
protein, a pathogenic form of the protein that is less soluble and more 
resistant to enzyme degradation than the normal form. Two other 
theories are the virus and virino theories.
    From 1986 to 1998, an estimated 171,000 head of cattle were 
diagnosed with BSE in Great Britain. The epidemic may have resulted 
from the feeding of scrapie-containing sheep meat-and-bone meal to 
cattle, but most likely was amplified by feeding rendered bovine meat-
and-bone meal back to cattle. Several other European countries have 
reported indigenous cases of BSE.
    No cases of BSE have been diagnosed in the United States. The USDA 
BSE Working Group has taken aggressive measures to prevent BSE from 
entering the U.S. over the last 10 years. These measures include the 
1989 ban of cattle and cattle products from countries where BSE has 
been reported and active inspection, testing, and education programs 
targeted toward preventing the entry of suspect animals and animal 
products into this country. USDA cooperates with other government 
agencies in carrying out this mission. The information developed 
through the risk analysis will be used to refine USDA's regulatory 
activities.

    Done in Washington, DC, on September 11, 1998.
Thomas J. Billy,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 98-24888 Filed 9-15-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6351-01-M