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US mad cow animal born in Texas, first native case

Posted on: Thursday, 30 June 2005, 00:14 CDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The second U.S. animal confirmed tohave mad cow disease was born 12 years ago and raised in Texas,the nation's largest cattle state, the U.S. Department ofAgriculture said on Wednesday.

The U.S. beef cow is the first U.S.-born animal infectedwith the brain-wasting disease, formally known as bovinespongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

The only other BSE case in the United States, found in late2003, was a Washington state cow imported from Canada.

Dr. John Clifford, chief veterinarian for the USDA, toldreporters that DNA testing had traced the Texas herd where theinfected beef cow was born. Texas animal health officials haveplaced a hold order on the animals.

The USDA has begun to identify offspring and herdmates thatwere born within a year of the infected cow, he said.

"Experience worldwide has shown us that it is highlyunusual to find BSE in more than one animal in a herd or in anaffected animal's offspring," Clifford said.

Industry groups said these latest results showed U.S.firewalls for finding the disease were effective.

"It really doesn't matter what state the animal was from.It didn't enter the food supply," said Janet Riley of theAmerican Meat Institute.

"The system worked -- the case was detected."

After a battery of complex testing, U.S. and Britishscientists on Friday confirmed that the beef cow was infectedwith the brain-wasting disease. Meat from the animal did notenter the human food supply, the USDA said.

The "downer" cow was discovered and incinerated at a petfood plant in Waco, Texas, the USDA said.

USDA declined to specify the town where the animal's birthherd was located. "We feel that is protected information,"Clifford said.

Texas beef producers said in a statement they supported andfollowed the government safeguards.

"Our top priority has always been providing consumers, aswell as our own families, with the safest beef in the world --our livelihood depends on it," they said.

HERDMATES AND OFFSPRING

If the age of the animal's herdmates cannot be determined,officials will expand their investigation to include allherdmates and offspring born before the 1997 feed ban.

In the Washington state case, the USDA located less thanhalf of the infected animal's 81 herdmates after a one-monthinvestigation.

Some consumer advocates criticized the USDA for notdisclosing all the information in the Texas case.

"I really am surprised they won't release the informationabout the source of the animal," said Carol Tucker Foreman,food policy director for Consumer Federation of America.

"All the way through this, they've done everything toprotect the cattlemen."

Clifford said the cow likely contracted the disease byconsuming infected feed prior to the implementation of a 1997government ban on recycling remains into cattle rations.

The USDA said it was working with the Food and DrugAdministration to find the facility that produced the infectedfeed.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association said solid pricesfor cattle since the discovery of this latest case demonstratedthat consumers confidence in the product remained high.

"Animal health is protected and so is human health. And wethink that's really been reflected in the marketplace," saidBryan Dierlam, executive director, government affairs for thegroup.

"Prices this week have been very strong and beef demandover the past several days has really been strong as well."

Source: REUTERS

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