December 24, 200322 yr Link First-Ever U.S. Mad Cow Case Suspected By JONATHAN SALANT, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - The first suspected case of mad cow disease in the United States has been discovered in Washington state, but officials took immediate action Tuesday to ensure the safety of American beef. "We remain confident in the safety of our food supply," Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman told a hastily assembled news conference. The announcement could have dramatic economic ramifications for the beef industry after earlier scares in Europe heightened consumers' fears that they could contract the disease from eating meat. Veneman said a single Holstein cow that was either sick or injured ? thus never destined for the U.S. food supply ? tested presumptively positive for the brain-wasting illness. "It is too early at this point to say whether or not this will be an isolated case," she said. Mad cow disease, known also as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, eats holes in the brains of cattle. It sprang up in Britain in 1986 and spread through countries in Europe and Asia, prompting massive destruction of herds and decimating the European beef industry. A human illness, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (news - web sites), is related to mad cow disease and doctors believe humans get it from eating meat containing infected tissue. It was not immediately known how this particular cow could have become infected. Scientists believe that the disease is usually transmitted when cattle eat feed containing tissue from a sick animal. The Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) has banned such feed since 1997. "This incident is not terrorist-related," Veneman said Tuesday. "I cannot stress this point strongly enough." Veneman said the apparently diseased cow was found at a farm in Mabton, Wash., about 40 miles southeast of Yakima. She said the farm has been quarantined. "Even though the risk to human health is minimal, we will take all appropriate actions out of an abundance of caution," she said. Samples from the cow have been sent to Britain for confirmation of the preliminary mad cow finding, she said. Mad cow disease has never been found in the United States before this incident despite intensive testing for it. However, there was a case of mad cow disease in Canada last May that officials described as a single, isolated incident. That cow was suspected to have links to cattle in the United States, but there was never any evidence that the infection had spread into this country. The United States originally banned imports of Canadian beef, as did other countries. The U.S. and Canadian governments are lobbying international regulators to change the policy of closing borders when mad cow is found so that trade can continue in the case of an isolated incident. Veneman said a tissue sample from the suspect U.S. cow was taken on Dec. 9 and had been tested at a lab in Ames, Iowa. She said the Agriculture Department has had safeguards in place since 1990 to check for mad cow disease, and 20,526 cows had been tested in 2003 in the United States. "This is a clear indication that our surveillance and detection program is working," Veneman said. She said U.S. beef remains "absolutely safe to eat," adding that she plans to serve it at her Christmas dinner Thursday. The USDA will frequently update its Web site, and concerned consumer can call a hot line at 1-866-USDA-COM.
December 24, 200322 yr We'll have to see how this plays out, especially if any other cases were to be discovered. Look for the beef industry to take a hit, even with one case. Exports down, domestic beef sales down, reduction of hamburger sales at fast food joints, etc.
December 24, 200322 yr How can you tell they're mad? Do they look pissed off? Do they give you the finger as you pass by? Do they make disparaging remarks questioning your parentage? maybe they're anyi-semitic. I blame everything I don't like and then call it anti-semitic.
December 25, 200322 yr Author We'll have to see how this plays out, especially if any other cases were to be discovered. Look for the beef industry to take a hit, even with one case. Exports down, domestic beef sales down, reduction of hamburger sales at fast food joints, etc. yeah, I know. It will benefit me in the food service industry because beef prices have skyrocketed recently, and now they will plummet. Time to stock up on the beef. I'll just have to watch for recalls on any product I buy. Even then, I don't lose..I either get refunded or new untainted beef.
December 25, 200322 yr this could potentially kill beef sales in the united states, which means less future killing of cows :thumbup it'll probably increase the killing of chickens in the process. but in the end, if this mad cow threat is real, i think we'll see a lot of people become vegetarians.
December 25, 200322 yr people... go bison/buffalo. its really simple. Is it really that simple, I mean its not like they bring it to market every day if any at all... Where do you suggest we get it from, EBAY?
December 25, 200322 yr The real question here is : Bison meat any good?>? How to spot a mad cow link: http://viswiz.imk.fraunhofer.de/~steffi/madcow/madcow.htm
December 25, 200322 yr Where do you suggest we get it from, EBAY? ENJOY! GO BILLS! only a chef would buy his bison off of ebay
December 25, 200322 yr buffalo can be found... but unfortunately the cow ranchers dominate the meat industry. bison is healthier for you, just more expensive because not enough people have realized the benefits of buffalo. look around the internet...specality stores will sell buffalo meat. if I ever go into the ranching business, I will be raising buffalo.
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