Who leads the ongoing BSE surveillance program in the United States?

• A. Environmental Protection Agency
• B. United States Department of Agriculture
• C. Food and Drug Administration
• D. National Institutes of Health

Answer: (B)

The agency responsible for leading the ongoing BSE surveillance program is the U.S. Department of Agriculture. BSE surveillance is fundamentally an animal health initiative, and USDA (through its APHIS program) designs, coordinates, and runs the nationwide monitoring, sampling, and testing efforts to detect BSE in cattle and protect the livestock industry and food supply. The other agencies have related roles but not the primary leadership: the FDA focuses on human food safety and regulation of certain animal feeds, NIH conducts biomedical research, and the EPA handles environmental protection. So USDA is the correct lead because it oversees animal health surveillance and policy for BSE.