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Retests Reveal Texas Cow Not Infected With Mad Cow Disease

Posted on: Thursday, 4 August 2005, 21:00 CDT

Aug. 4--U.S. Department of Agriculture officials reported Wednesday that a cow suspected of having mad cow disease tested negative at government labs in Iowa and England.

The 12-year-old cow, who died giving birth last April, had shown indications of the brain-wasting disease in a sample tested last week. Further testing revealed that the animal was not infected with mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

"Needless to say, we are very pleased with these results," said Dr. John Clifford, the USDA's chief veterinarian.

A private veterinarian took the brain sample from the animal in April but left it frozen in a lab for three months and "simply forgot" about it, USDA officials said. The sample was submitted for testing in July.

USDA officials said initial tests on the sample showed some staining that was different from typical mad cow stains on test samples.

With inconclusive test results, officials conducted further screening at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, as well as an international lab in Weybridge, England.

"We felt the prudent course was to conduct the additional tests," Clifford said.

In a statement, Clifford did not provide details about what would have caused the initial staining that prompted additional testing. Scientists at both labs concluded that the initial test amounted to "artifactual staining" that could have been caused by a variety of human factors but did not translate into a disease situation.

"In this case we had staining, but it didn't match anything," said Jim Rogers, a USDA spokesman.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy is a brain-wasting disease caused by abnormal proteins in the brain called prions. The disease is fatal for cattle and can be passed to humans who eat certain internal organs. U.S. safeguards to protect consumers from the disease have removed risky organs and spinal cord material from the human food supply.

The animal never entered the food chain and was destroyed on the farm, which officials did not identify.

In June, the USDA reported the first case of mad cow disease involving a U.S.-born animal when a 12-year-old Texas cow tested positive for the disease. A 2003 case of mad cow disease found in Washington state involved a cow born in Canada.

The USDA's enhanced surveillance program for BSE has tested 426,164 cattle since June 2004, with the only positive test coming from the Texas cow.

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Source: Omaha World-Herald

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