BSE Alert: Possible U.S. Case Of Mad Cow Being Investigated

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BSE Alert: Possible U.S. Case Of Mad Cow Being Investigated

Today 3/11/2006 5:35:00 PM

BSE Alert: Possible U.S. Case Of Mad Cow Being Investigated

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Agriculture Department is investigating a possible case of mad cow disease, the agency's chief veterinarian said Saturday.

A routine test indicated the possible presence of mad cow disease, said John Clifford, the USDA official. They agency would not say where the animal was from.

The department is conducting more detailed tests at its laboratory in Ames, Iowa, and should have results in four to seven days.

"This inconclusive result does not mean we have found a new case of BSE," Clifford said, giving the abbreviation for the disease's formal name, bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

"Inconclusive results are a normal component of most screening tests, which are designed to be extremely sensitive," he added in a statement.

The cow did not enter the human or animal food chain, Clifford said.

In humans, eating meat products contaminated with mad cow disease has been linked to more than 150 deaths worldwide from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a rare and fatal nerve disease.

A majority of the deaths were in Britain, where there was an outbreak of mad cow disease that started in the mid-1980s. There was one case confirmed in the U.S., although the federal Centers for Disease Control believes the person got the disease while in the United Kingdom.

No one is known to have contracted the disease inside the United States.

U.S. government investigators have found two cases of mad cow disease. The first was in December 2003 in a Canadian-born cow in Washington state. The second was last June in a cow that was born and raised in Texas.

In response to the first case, the Agriculture Department increased its level of testing for the disease. As of Friday, 644,603 of the nation's estimated 95 million head of cattle had been tested.

Tests are done on dead animals; there is no test for the disease in a live cow. The department primarily tests animals that can't walk, have signs of nervous system disorder, are emaciated or injured or that have died. These animals are considered to be at greatest risk of having the disease.

Clifford said the U.S. has "a system of interlocking safeguards" against mad cow disease that protects people and health. The U.S. has a ban on adding remains of dead cattle to feed for live cattle, because eating contaminated feed is how the disease is believed to spread.

The government also requires the removal of tissues known to carry the disease, such as brains and spinal cords, when animals are slaughtered.

"We remain very confident in the safety of U.S. beef," Clifford said.
 
Sure hope it's a false, but still being false may have people not wanting to eat hamburgers. not too good.

Cal
 
I don't know why a possible case is reported. Wait for proof. Its like being a suspect you are already guilty in people's mind. Damage is already done.
 
Futures took a dive on Friday. A leak?

These are always announced on Friday or before the Holiday, or weekend. Coincidence?

The USDA does not have a good track record of being honest and open. Where are our leaders? Where is the outrage?

Makes no sense whatsoever to report an animal until it is confirmed.
 
I saw a snippet on the news this morning and of course they showed a video clip of a cow with a case of it....and all I thought was how many people are seeing this and thinking this cow is the one in question when who knows when that video was taken.
 
Victoria":41qy95hp said:
I hope it turns out false and that the media makes just as big of an announcement of it being false than of it being unconfirmed. :roll:

You know that won't happen.... how could good news bring ratings?
 
There was one case confirmed in the U.S., although the federal Centers for Disease Control believes the person got the disease while in the United Kingdom.


Oddly enough my sister in-law worked for a heart surgeon and his wife had contracted the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. Her husband and her had visited the United Kingdom and it was thought that she had contracted the diease there. Since there has only been one case in the U.S. that must have been the one. This has been a lot of years ago, but I remember my sister in-law saying the doctor had been having a long time affair with a female co-worker and soon as his wife died of this rare disease the two got married. Some thought he may have some how been responsivle. Who knows, just some scuttle but I remember.
 
MR3":1xbr65hs said:
There was one case confirmed in the U.S., although the federal Centers for Disease Control believes the person got the disease while in the United Kingdom.


Oddly enough my sister in-law worked for a heart surgeon and his wife had contracted the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. Her husband and her had visited the United Kingdom and it was thought that she had contracted the diease there. Since there has only been one case in the U.S. that must have been the one. This has been a lot of years ago, but I remember my sister in-law saying the doctor had been having a long time affair with a female co-worker and soon as his wife died of this rare disease the two got married. Some thought he may have some how been responsivle. Who knows, just some scuttle but I remember.

CJD was only in humans that ate beef and the by products from cattle, eaten in the early 1980's not from the resent outbreak of 10 years ago now, the bans have been lifted off British Beef and it is now very safe to eat, and the ironical thing is the cattle infected came from the Continent the ones who banned our beef. it is to early for the CJD to be surfacing from recently eaten beef it takes at least 12 - 15 years to come out in humans if it is going to. this what I am told anyhow
 
rkm":322dxuun said:
I don't know why a possible case is reported. Wait for proof. Its like being a suspect you are already guilty in people's mind. Damage is already done.

It's controversial. It's news. Unfortunately it gets good ratings.
 

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