USDA, WSU scientists search for BSE test for live animals; (March 9, 2004) by Daniel Yovich for meatingplace.com: Agriculture Department and Washington State University are jointly researching a means to test live cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, but are unsure how long it might be before an adequate testing protocol might be found, according to a report by the Medical Letter on the CDC and FDA

"I don't know how far away we are," said Don Knowles, who runs a USDA lab in Pullman, Wash., that is working jointly with Washington State scientists to develop such a test. "Data and announcements are coming out all the time. At this moment, none of these tests has enough validation data behind them."

The scientists are following a theory that prions might move through the blood supply, and are looking for a way to detect them there, Knowles said. They are also looking for a genetic marker that would reveal when prions are present, the CDC and FDA report said.

The Pullman researchers have had some similar success in the past, having been the first to develop a test to detect scrapie in sheep, said Charlie Powell, a spokesman for the university's College of Veterinary Medicine.

That was the first and only test that can detect the class of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, which includes BSE, in living animals, Knowles said.

However, that test does not work on cattle, he said.