Ann Veneman

It's devastating to see ... all the buildings that have fallen down, to see people's lives completely shattered, to see a tent next to a house that was there,

We are, in an abundance of caution, beginning, as of last night, a recall of that product. And we're tracing forward to see where that product went.

We are doing everything we can to protect the food supply. And I can tell you that we're making decisions based upon sound science and good public policy, given the circumstances that we are now in.

This was a dairy cow, and dairy cows have IDs on them. The ID was traced back to the farm in Washington. It's a dairy farm. And that farm now has been quarantined, and the owners have been very cooperative in doing that.

The cows have ID numbers. And we should be able, throughout the investigation, which is ongoing as we speak, to be able to track that cow back to where it came from initially.

Now, the impact on export markets - we export about 10 percent of what we produce, so obviously that will probably have some impact on the market. At this point it's too early to determine how much.

I have to say that in this particular cow that we're dealing with, those parts of the cow were removed, and so we don't think there's any risk or very negligible risk to human health with this particular incident.

I also believe that it's the right thing to do, to maintain strong consumer confidence in our food systems. And I believe that the consumer should have strong confidence in our food systems.

All of those standard operating procedures were followed, which is again why we believe that the food supply has been protected.

Given the current situation, we are not prepared to lift any restrictions at this time,

The issues facing the farmers and ranchers today are complex and challenging,

A whole generation has never known a world free of HIV and Aids, yet the magnitude of the problem dwarfs the scale of the response so far.

We are estimating that at least 17,000 pupils were killed in schools, that's the one number that we have some estimate on.

Unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene habits play a major role in child mortality. Bringing basic services to Africa's women and girls could transform their lives and boost child survival in the region.

In the past quarter of a century, HIVAids has claimed the lives of more than 20 million people and lowered life expectancy in the hardest-hit countries by as much as 30 years,

We've all learned about this disease since it was first discovered several years ago in Europe. And so I think we've learned from the European experience.

But the fact of the matter is that all scientific evidence would show, based upon what we know about this disease, that muscle cuts - that is, the meat of the animal itself - should not cause any risk to human health.

There is a potential for widespread disease, greater malnutrition and the displacement of significant numbers of people.

The fear is that we could lose thousands of people additionally to diarrhoea, disease and injuries that are not treated. It's absolutely urgent that as much aid gets in as possible. This is an area that will get much colder as the winter comes and the people are going to need shelter and blankets.

Nearly 25 years into the pandemic, this very visible disease continues to have an invisible face and that is the face of the child.

We've had risk assessments performed by Harvard University, which said that even if we did have a small number of cases in this country that the likelihood of it spreading or getting into any kind of human health problem is very, very small.

I'm confident that we have measures in place. And the additional measures that we announced yesterday will be even more protective of our food supply in this country.

I think that's unjustified criticism. We have had a number of measures in place in this country for several years to mitigate the possibility of mad cow spreading in this country. We have found a single case.

No country or region is immune,

We are extremely encouraged by the vision and leadership shown by the OIC and ISESCO in mobilizing Islamic countries to accelerate progress for children. UNICEF shares their commitment and stands ready to work with them to ensure their actions have a practical impact and generate concrete results for children.