Media Tipsheet: Colorado State University experts can discuss bovine spongiform encephalopathy

Note to Reporters: The following is a media tip sheet that includes information about experts and resources at Colorado State University. The contact information for experts is intended to provide resources to reporters and editors. It is not intended as contact information for the public. To arrange interviews, please contact the person listed with each topic.

Colorado State University has experts available to talk with reporters about bovine spongiform encephalopathy. In addition to the experts listed below, Colorado State also has faculty experts able to address questions related to prion proteins, meat safety in the human food chain, and potential impacts of BSE cases on the economy and international markets. Contact information for those experts is available upon request.

Surveillance and testing for BSE
The Colorado State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Animal Health Laboratory Network to monitor for and test animals for BSE, among other important livestock diseases. Dr. Barb Powers, director of the Colorado State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory System, can discuss the BSE testing process used by the USDA. She can discuss specifics about transmissible spongiform encephalopathy diseases, a group of neurodegenerative disorders that include BSE in cows. The Colorado State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory is also one of the nationally certified laboratories for testing for chronic wasting disease and scrapie, both transmissible spongiform encephalopathy diseases, called TSEs, and is recognized internationally for its expertise in this area. Powers cannot discuss specific details about individual cases of BSE. To talk with Powers, contact Dell Rae Moellenberg at 970-491-6009 or dellrae.moellenberg@colostate.edu.

Animal disease, epidemiology and biosecurity
Paul Morley, Colorado State University veterinarian has research emphasis in animal disease epidemiology and biosecurity. He can discuss the epidemiology of BSE, biosecurity and how those diseases might impact livestock production. Morley can also discuss the U.S. surveillance of BSE compared to other countries, including Canada, as well as the handling of high risk material — the spinal cord and brain where the disease is carried — and how that relates to meat safety. To speak with Morley, contact Dell Rae Moellenberg at 970-491-6009 or DellRae.Moellenberg@colostate.edu.

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