U.S. mad cow was found at Champion Pet Foods plant
Posted on: Thursday, 30 June 2005, 16:49 CDT
By Randy Fabi
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. beef cow recently confirmedas the first American-born animal to be infected with mad cowdisease was found at a Champion Pet Foods plant in Waco, Texas,the company said on Thursday.
The infected cow was already dead when it arrived at theWaco-based pet food facility on Nov. 15, the company said.
"We followed our normal daily procedures and sent a samplefrom this cow to the USDA-approved laboratory at Texas A&M,"said Champion President Benjy Bauer in a prepared statement.
"No part of the cow entered the pet food chain," he added.
The Agriculture Department on Wednesday said the infectedanimal, the second case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy(BSE) to be found in the United States, was born and raised onthe same Texas farm, but did not identify the plant where itwas found.
The USDA declined to disclose the name of the facilitybecause it did not want to discourage plants from voluntarilyidentifying animals for mad cow testing.
The USDA has traced the Texas herd where the infected beefcow was born. State animal health officials have placed a holdorder on the animals.
The USDA has begun to identify offspring and herdmates thatwere born within a year of the infected animal.
At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, traders shrugged offthe news and said the first U.S. native case should not have animpact on the cattle market because it is not expected toaffect domestic consumer demand.
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns expressed optimism thatthe new case would not affect beef trade talks with majortrading partners Japan and Taiwan.
"My hope is that there is no delay whatsoever," he toldreporters. "Japan has been very, very measured in theirresponse and very willing to work with us on this issue."
Johanns said he was also encouraged by last weekend'sreaction from Taiwanese consumers when they flocked to grocerystores to purchase U.S. beef after the government announced itwould ban the products.
Taiwan, previously the sixth-largest U.S. beef market byvalue, was the only country to reinstitute a ban on U.S. beefbecause of the new case.
"My hope is that that's a temporary ban and obviously theconsumers want our beef," he told reporters.
The previous U.S. confirmed case of mad cow disease wasfound in December 2003 in a Washington state dairy cow importedfrom Canada.
Source: REUTERS
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