Rhune
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More herdmates found of mad cow-infected Holstein
« on: Jan 17th, 2004, 2:27pm » |
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More herdmates found of mad cow-infected Holstein
Friday, January 16, 2004 Posted: 9:58 PM EST (0258 GMT)
YAKIMA, Washington (AP) -- Five cows from the same herd that contained a Holstein with mad cow disease have been traced to a facility in central Washington, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday.
The finding brings to 19 the number of cows located from the Canadian herd of 81 cattle that entered the United States in 2001, the USDA said in a news release. A sick Holstein from the herd was the first domestic case of the disease.
Since the USDA announced December 23 that the cow tested positive for mad cow disease, formally called bovine spongiform encephalopathy, more than 30 countries have banned the import of U.S. beef products.
The five cows were found at Connell, about 65 miles east of Yakima; one cow was earlier found at a dairy farm in Quincy; and three were at a dairy farm in Mattawa. None of the central Washington farms was identified.
Nine other cows from the Canadian herd were traced to the Mabton farm, Sunny Dene Ranch, where the infected cow was sent to slaughter.
Authorities identified 129 cows at the Mabton farm to be killed and tested. All were to have been euthanized by the end of Friday. All 28 animals tested so far have come up negative for the disease.
The herds at the Mabton, Quincy and Mattawa farms earlier were put on state holds, similar to a quarantine. The Washington state Department of Agriculture also has put a hold on the Connell facility. It was unclear how many cattle were at the facilities.
Mad cow disease eats holes in the brains of cattle and is incurable. It is a concern because humans can develop a brain-wasting illness, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, from consuming contaminated beef products.
Because the source of the disease is believed to be feed tainted with tissue of an infected animal, investigators have been working to trace all of the cows sold from the Canadian farm with the sick Holstein.
Investigators also have been looking for another 17 young cows that were believed to have come from the same Canadian farm, and shipped separately from the group that included the infected Holstein. Three heifers were located at the Quincy dairy farm, and investigators were still working to determine whether the remaining14 also entered the United States, the USDA release said.
"This is essentially a detective operation, and we're moving with it pretty much as fast as we can," said USDA spokesman Jim Rogers.
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