Just Grounds Community

For Like minded people who like to see-

How Many Cases of Atypical Scrapie { & "atypical" BSE} exist in Australia ?

Folks, as I have said in an earlier post on "atypical" BSE , you had better be carefull what you rail against because you just might have it. Perhaps I should have been a clairvoyant.

Please note this report courtesy of the ABC re a suspected case of "atypical" Scrapie found in a WA sheep tested under the national Transmissable Spongiform Encephalites {TSE} Surveillence programme.

Similar prograames around the world are finding atypical Scrapie in traditionally Scrapie free countries such as NZ and Australia. To date 4 such cases have been found in NZ.

IT will be interesting to see how our gaggle of BSE "witch hunting" Senators and the ill informed groups that encourage them, respond to this development. Can we expect to have our policy response determined on Facebook as a result of serial scaremongering?

That is interesting. Just saw this:

http://www.abc.net.au/rural/wa/content/2010/03/s2841107.htm

Guess we will have to wait for the details.

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Matt Thompson on March 10, 2010 at 11:58am

Lee,

The point is that in spite of this incident, Australian lamb meat is still safe!!!!!

Unfortunately, because of the uninformed activity of the scare mongers; the rest of the world will think we are a bit silly if we now say that our sheep meat is still safe in spite of our efforts to identify and control ovine scrapie. It sounds like we are speaking from both sides of our mouth after attacking the US for having the same position.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Lee McNicholl on March 10, 2010 at 12:06pm

Matt you are spot on. It will be particularly interesting to hear ABA Chairman Brad Bellinger's response, given that the majority of his income is derived from the sheep industry.

It will be fascinating to see who can speak from bothe sides of their mouth while chewing gum at the same time!!. AS they say what goes around comes around sooner than you think.

Regards to all from Lee Mc Nicholl

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Matt Thompson on March 10, 2010 at 2:48pm

I wonder if Senator Nash is aware of this situation. I think it would be helpful if a good livestock Vet could go brief her.

I think I know just the person.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Matt Thompson on March 10, 2010 at 7:54pm

Atypical scrapie does not endanger the food supply full stop. Countries should have no fear in importing Australian Sheep meat, just because we have identified a case of atypical ovine scrapie and handled the case effectively.

Does any one here have a problem with either of those two statements??????????
Does any one think other countries should ask for a two year long "risk assesment" to determine if the above facts are true???????????

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Laurel Ender on March 10, 2010 at 8:21pm

Hi Fellas, can I say I am NOT surprised..Scrapie WAS in Aus in the early days, Our saving grace is our cattle werent fed meat meal. I,d be curious as to what the sheep had been fed on, Pelletised food? from where?
As to trade, fellas, well I,d again prefer us to be able to buy and use all we produce.

as to a risk assessment:-) funny:-) seeing as others all have it, its hardly an issue, I,d like to see what they DO find.
How INCREDIBLY?? fortuitous they just managed to "find" it. Now...simply amazing timing, isn't it??

I do hope they plan to do more checking. Especially the huge concern from the emirates? or wherever that bring or brought in their own breeds, grow and ship out from their own wharves, in WA.

damn, and I LIKE gnawing a good lamb chop bone. Wont stop me, I guess:-) but I guess off bone? may become the standard? as in EU and USA etc.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Lee McNicholl on March 10, 2010 at 8:27pm

Sorry Matt, I am not willing to take the chance but thanks for the leg up all the same. I think the under informed Senator might put me under an increasing pile of rocks if I told her "More Truth". I'd hate to end up as a modern day Giles Corey!

Perhaps Terry. S. Singeltary Snr might be the guiding light to provide Senator Nash with a cutting edge critique of prion and prion like diseases. I mean if he is good enough to be the ABA's star reference at the Senate Inquiry into quarantine protocols re imports from Controlled Risk countries for BSE, he should be able to sort out this little inconvenience for our under researched Senator. Terry S comes from Bacliff Texas, not to far from away from where one of my favourite Texans comes from. No it's not Sam Houston, it is of course it's Willie Nelson. .

As you probably know Willie sings "Regret is just a memory writen on my brow, there is nothing I can do about it now" . It is a great lesson for life. Regards Lee Mc Nicholl

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Matt Thompson on March 10, 2010 at 9:37pm

You got to give those crazy yank CIA people credit for effort. Imagine the planning and work it took to infect an embryo with bse, sneak up to a dairy in Central Alberta and implant it in some one else's cow un-noticed. Then wait five years before purchasing a bunch of cows from the same dairy and shipping them to the USA so that the USA could be also be known as a bse infected country. Absolutely brilliant these CIA chaps.

I heard a rumour about a bunch of sheep at Pine Gap near Alice Springs. Have you heard anything about that?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Lee McNicholl on March 10, 2010 at 9:42pm

Come on Ruth, don't you know it was ASIO. Everyone else does.
I've just got off the weights bench and cross trainer while listening to Willie Nelson. I am definitely not going to let all this conspiratorial crap get me down. The Condamine Codgers have a date with destiny in South Africa from Aug 29-Sept 5 at the World Vintage Rugby Tournament. Also my niece who works with the Ruwanda War Crimes Tribunal in Tanzania has arranged for our family group to walk with the Massai herdsfolk and their cattle..

I want to look my best just in case a "mad cow" takes a fancy to me. At my age you should never let a chance go by and to hell with the risk. Cheers from Lee Mc Nicholl

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Janet H. Thompson on March 10, 2010 at 10:57pm

Lee, from the looks of your picture playing rugby in the rain with raging pests and diseases everywhere, I reckon you'll handle the mad cows of the Massai alright. Just watch out for the CIA bloke dressed as a tiger (in ASIO clothing).

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Rob Moore on March 11, 2010 at 7:29am

Care to comment on this reply. This is a new Initiative-just released What sort of support or subsidy does it involve. This is not conspiracy theory but the real world. Not nirvanaland where the level playing field exists and big business is happy with reasonable profits shared with all along there chain as opposed to predatory pursuit of obseen profit which usually goes overseas anyway.

The timing of Burke's announcement was pretty timely due to developments I read about within our trading partners Administration.

USA Agric Sec Tom Vilsack has been quoted as saying that " the USDA will focus efforts on increasing exports to strengthen the American Agricultural economy." This is certainly what he is paid for and must be commended.

This follows the Presidents announcement in his stare of the union -address of a National Export Initiative with a goal of DOUBLING all U.S. exports in the next five years.

This is the hard ball competition that goes on and is certainly not the time for us to give up any status- no matter how small a risk