Mad Cow Testing Continues on Texas Cattle
July 10, 2005
Mad cow testing continued Sunday on brain tissue of cattle from a Texas ranch where a cow was found to have the disease in June.
The Houston Chronicle reports 67 siblings, offspring or herd-mates of the infected cow are being tested by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Iowa. Twenty-nine had tested negative and were sent to a landfill.
To test cows, they must be killed for brain samples. If a test comes back inconclusive, the animals are incinerated and two additional tests are conducted.
If a positive test is confirmed, extensive background testing is conducted like the one done on the Texas cow.
Humans who eat infected meat can develop a form of the brain-wasting disease.