WASHINGTON,
DC, August 4, 2005 (ENS): Test results came
out negative in a cow suspected of having mad cow disease,
formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy,
or BSE, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports.
In a statement Wednesday, John Clifford, deputy administrator
of USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service,
said the negative results came from both the department's
own laboratory in Iowa and an internationally recognized
laboratory in England.
"The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National
Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, has
determined that the non-definitive test result reported
on July 27 is negative for BSE," Clifford said.
"Tests conducted by the Veterinary Laboratories
Agency in Weybridge, England, are also negative for
BSE."
“Needless to say, we are very pleased with these
results," Clifford said. "I do want to emphasize
that the most important protections for human and animal
health are our interlocking food-safety protocols. Our
enhanced surveillance program is designed to provide
information about the level of prevalence of BSE in
the United States, which by any measure is extremely
low."
Two confirmed cases of BSE have been discovered in
the United States, one a Canadian-born cow in Washington
state in 2003 and the other a cow in Texas in June 2005.
Prompting the two tests in the third suspected case
were ambiguous results from an initial test for immunohistochemistry.
Clifford said the department simply took "the prudent
course" by having the additional tests conducted.
The tested cow died in April after giving birth, but
USDA has not disclosed the location of the farm where
the cow died. No test exists to check for BSE in live
animals.
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2005. All
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