TheBullLady
Well-known member
This can't be good. At least if it had been one in Washington state we could have blamed it on the Canadians!
Updated: 06:25 PM EDT
Second Case of Mad Cow Traced to Texas
WASHINGTON (June 29) - The second U.S. case of mad cow disease was a cow from Texas killed last November, two government officials said Wednesday.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Agriculture Department planned an announcement later, said USDA officials traced the infected cow to a rendering plant for animals unfit for human consumption.
The cow, a "downer" that could not walk was more than 8 years old when it arrived at the plant, Agriculture Department officials have said, meaning it could have contracted the disease through animal feed that included cow parts.
The United States banned using cattle parts in such feed since 1997 following an outbreak of mad cow disease in Britain. Eating the brain and other nervous tissue of an animal with the brain-wasting ailment is the only confirmed way the disease is transmitted.
The Agriculture Department confirmed the case on Friday but had to wait for DNA analysis to confirm the cow's origin. Tracing the cow proved difficult the animal's breed was mislabeled and its tissues got mixed with parts from other cows. It was killed at a pet food plant.
Officials suspected last November that the cow was infected because initial screening had indicated the presence of the disease. But more sophisticated tests came back negative, and officials announced then that the suspect cow was free of the ailment.
The conflicting test results bothered the department's internal watchdog, who ordered a new round of tests earlier this month. Those results came back positive, and an internationally recognized laboratory in Weybridge, England, confirmed last Friday that the cow had mad cow disease.
06/29/05 18:11 EDT
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
Updated: 06:25 PM EDT
Second Case of Mad Cow Traced to Texas
WASHINGTON (June 29) - The second U.S. case of mad cow disease was a cow from Texas killed last November, two government officials said Wednesday.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Agriculture Department planned an announcement later, said USDA officials traced the infected cow to a rendering plant for animals unfit for human consumption.
The cow, a "downer" that could not walk was more than 8 years old when it arrived at the plant, Agriculture Department officials have said, meaning it could have contracted the disease through animal feed that included cow parts.
The United States banned using cattle parts in such feed since 1997 following an outbreak of mad cow disease in Britain. Eating the brain and other nervous tissue of an animal with the brain-wasting ailment is the only confirmed way the disease is transmitted.
The Agriculture Department confirmed the case on Friday but had to wait for DNA analysis to confirm the cow's origin. Tracing the cow proved difficult the animal's breed was mislabeled and its tissues got mixed with parts from other cows. It was killed at a pet food plant.
Officials suspected last November that the cow was infected because initial screening had indicated the presence of the disease. But more sophisticated tests came back negative, and officials announced then that the suspect cow was free of the ailment.
The conflicting test results bothered the department's internal watchdog, who ordered a new round of tests earlier this month. Those results came back positive, and an internationally recognized laboratory in Weybridge, England, confirmed last Friday that the cow had mad cow disease.
06/29/05 18:11 EDT
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
