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US confirms first mad cow case
WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- The first US case of mad cow disease is suspected in a single cow in Washington state, US Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said Tuesday, according to a CNNreport.
Veneman said that the risk to human health is minimal. She saidthat despite of this finding "we remain confident in US beef supply."
She also said that the US Agricultural Department will take appropriate actions and that it is in the process of notifying trading partners.
Samples from the cow have been sent to Britain for confirmationof the preliminary finding, she said.
Mad cow disease, known also as bovine spongiform encephalopathy,or BSE, is a disease that eats holes in the brains of cattle. In May, the first mad cow case was found in Canada, which then had animpact on Canada-US trade of beef products.
The mad cow disease could be traced back to 1986 when Britain had a mad cow trouble and it spread through countries in Europe and Asia, leading to massive destruction of herds and decimating the European beef industry.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2003-12/24/content_1245455.htm
She also said that the US Agricultural Department will take appropriate actions and that it is in the process of notifying trading partners.
Samples from the cow have been sent to Britain for confirmationof the preliminary finding, she said.
Mad cow disease, known also as bovine spongiform encephalopathy,or BSE, is a disease that eats holes in the brains of cattle. In May, the first mad cow case was found in Canada, which then had animpact on Canada-US trade of beef products.
The mad cow disease could be traced back to 1986 when Britain had a mad cow trouble and it spread through countries in Europe and Asia, leading to massive destruction of herds and decimating the European beef industry.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2003-12/24/content_1245455.htm
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Mad cow disease, unofficial label for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is a brain-wasting illness that infects cattle. Scientists believe it is spread when a cow eats meal that contains spinal or brain tissue of an animal infected with BSE.
Humans can get a related illness, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, if they eat meat containing infected tissue. The disease attacks the nervous system and is incurable. More than 150 people died of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in Europe after mad cow disease appeared in Britain in the 1980s and spread to several other countries.
More recently, a single cow was found infected with mad cow disease in Canada in May, prompting the United States and other countries to shut down their borders to Canadian beef imports. Scientists there concluded it was an isolated case and said meat from the infected animal did not make it into the Canadian food supply.
The United States has acted to guard against the disease. Since 1997, the Food and Drug Administration has banned animal feed that contained brain and spinal tissue of cattle. Farmers used to feed such meal to their cattle because it was high in protein and could help the animals gain weight.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4284841.html
Humans can get a related illness, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, if they eat meat containing infected tissue. The disease attacks the nervous system and is incurable. More than 150 people died of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in Europe after mad cow disease appeared in Britain in the 1980s and spread to several other countries.
More recently, a single cow was found infected with mad cow disease in Canada in May, prompting the United States and other countries to shut down their borders to Canadian beef imports. Scientists there concluded it was an isolated case and said meat from the infected animal did not make it into the Canadian food supply.
The United States has acted to guard against the disease. Since 1997, the Food and Drug Administration has banned animal feed that contained brain and spinal tissue of cattle. Farmers used to feed such meal to their cattle because it was high in protein and could help the animals gain weight.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4284841.html
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