Tuberculosis Epidemic
* In response to “The Epidemic That Sneaked Into L.A.” (editorial, Dec. 4):
The Times is absolutely right that more attention must be paid and more resources devoted to combatting tuberculosis. The Times is also right that the federal government must do its share too.
Among the most basic, no-cost steps the federal government should be expected to take are to ensure the strict enforcement of federal inspection laws. I am counsel, with the Government Accountability Project, to Dr. Wilfredo B. Rosario, a Department of Agriculture veterinary meat inspector who blew the whistle in 1990 on an illegal policy shift by the department that allowed the approval, for human food, of beef containing laboratory-confirmed tuberculosis lesions. Following inadequate responses by his predecessors, Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy was ordered by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel in April to investigate and report on Rosario’s disclosures. (Espy’s report was submitted to the special counsel last month but it has not yet been made public.)
Ingestion of infected meat may not be a major contributing factor in the latest TB epidemic, especially since most people cook their meat adequately to kill TB bacteria. However, there is no data regarding the source for each TB infection, let alone any data that demonstrate the degree of likelihood TB-infected meat is ever the cause. In addition, the USDA admitted early this year that the illegal release of TB carcasses has occurred “mainly in Southern California,” where TB rates have climbed the fastest.
Presumably, TB-infected meat should never be a threat because federal law in the U.S. has led to its condemnation for more than 80 years (along with the rest of the world now) due to the scientific reality that humans can (at least theoretically) contract the disease by eating infected meat. However, knowing that corners are often cut and laws ignored, consumers increasingly are forced to rely on whistle-blowers as the last line of defense of our food supply.
Now, with the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, with resultant increase in imported Mexican cattle (the source of 83% of all bovine TB cases traced by the USDA last year), we may very well need courageous whistle-blowers like Rosario more than ever.
KEN MORRISON
Los Angeles