Cattlemen to finalize BSE research contracts

Denver-

About $1.6 million is going in the coffers to study bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in this country.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association says the research is beingfunded through $1.1 million in beef checkoff funds and a $500,000 grantfrom McDonald's Corp.

The project is being coordinated for the Cattlemen's Beef Board and statebeef councils by the NCBA Research and Knowledge Management staff. The BeefBoard oversees the $1-per-head beef checkoff.

Members of the BSE Scientific Working Group reviewed 17 proposals receivedfrom research organizations across the United States. These proposals weregenerated through a "request for proposal" process that identifiedthe specific goals the working group wanted to accomplish. The group's fivetopic areas consisted of basic research, diagnostics, beef quality assurancebest management practices, eradication and rendering technologies.

Topics of final proposals ranged from basic research of prion proteinsto chronic wasting disease in deer and CWD relationships to transmissiblespongiform encephalopathies (TSE). Twelve-month contracts with investigatingbodies were expected to be finalized by the end of 2002 with results availableby early 2004, NCBA reports.