More than one million copies of the document will be distributed across the country, with funding from NCBA, the Cattlemen's Beef Board and Pfizer Animal Health. Some 75 state and national organizations and publications have contributed resources to help distribute the eight-page document, which is being inserted in numerous industry publications, and will be released by cattlemen's associations and beef councils to producers in their states.
Entitled, "FMD & BSE: What Every Producer Needs to Know," the document contains information on what's being done to keep FMD out of the U.S., and what producers can do to help prevent the disease. It also features frequently asked questions about FMD, as well as information about the U.S. government's emergency response and compensation plans.
Two pages are devoted to steps the government is taking to ensure the U.S. remains BSE-free, and a discussion on new variant CJD, the human disease that has been linked to BSE.
The document was reviewed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service staff, as well as by leading industry veterinarians. An electronic file of the insert is available on the beef industry's website, www.beef.org.
