Suspected Case of Mad Cow Disease Found in the U.S.
(December 23, 2003 - CBC) At least
one suspected case of mad cow disease has been found in an animal in
Washington state, US Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman announced on
Tuesday.
The animal came from a farm 40 miles southeast of Yakima in Washington
State. Veneman says the farm has been quarantined, and the specimen flown
by military plane to the UK for final confirmation.
Veneman says it is too early to tell whether or not it is an isolated
case or if it has a connection to the single case of mad cow disease found
in Alberta. She does say the two animals are different, with the US case
being found in a Holstein cow, and the Canadian case in an Angus.
The secretary of agriculture says stringent procedures to have all
"downer animals,"—ones that are too sick to walk—tested has
helped ferret out this case of the disease.
The biggest group representing Canadian Ranchers says this country
should offer all the help it can to the U.S.
When an infected cow was found in Alberta last spring the reaction from
the U.S. was to close the border to all Canadian cattle and beef products.
Neil Jahnke, a spokesperson for the Canadian Cattlemen's Association,
says now is not the time for Canada to excercise a vengeful reaction.
"I don't want any country to have to go through what we went
through so no there's no tit for tat on this one. We'll do whatever we can
to help them in the situation they're in," says Jahnke.
Jahnke says Canada learned a lot about tracking herds and containing
the disease and he wants Ottawa to offer any assistance it can to the U.S.
Jahnke says the best result for both country's ranchers is an
integrated North American beef market and offering help now could go a
long way to convincing American cattle producers to go along with an
integrated market.
The U.S. cattle industry has long-feared an outbreak of mad cow
disease, which could result in billions of dollars of losses.
Mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE),
had previously not been found in the United States, but it devastated the
European cattle industry in the 1990s. Scientists believe humans can be
infected with the brain-wasting disease by eating diseased meat.
On May 20, Canada confirmed that one Alberta cow, which was slaughtered
in January, had mad cow disease.
The disease has been widespread in Europe and has been linked to about
130 human deaths, mostly in Britain.
The discovery of the sick Canadian cow triggered an immediate halt of
Canadian meat exports by most countries as a precaution.
by sask.cbc.ca staff with files from Reuters |
