MAD COW NEWS

Meat recall system is plagued by gaps, a low recovery rate Four days after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a recall of meat that may have come from a Holstein infected with mad-cow disease, investigators and company officials were still working to locate much of it and conceded some likely has been eaten already. Although federal regulators say eating the beef poses little health risk, the situation is typical of a system that generally recovers less than a quarter of tainted meat that is recalled, a Knight Ridder analysis of recall data found. Besides Washington and Oregon, the meat from the infected cow is now believed to have been distributed to some small retailers in California and Nevada, USDA officials said Saturday. They were not ruling out that other states may have gotten some of the meat...Editorial: Case shows beef inspection system works To all of those who are incessantly beating the drums decrying the state of the U.S. beef industry in the wake of one cow being detected with mad cow disease this week: back off. The system worked. America is blessed with the best food preparation system in the world. The beef industry in particular has a tightly controlled and highly monitored inspection system that focuses on delivering fresh, disease-proof products to the public. The recent discovery of a sick cow in Washington state is a credit to the beef industry's vigilance, as well as a testimony to the government's inspection controls. The fact that a diseased animal was discovered should be a source of congratulations to those involved in the inspection process...Canada, U.S. at odds over mad cow origin But in Ottawa, chief Canadian veterinarian Dr Brian Evans told a news conference: "It would be premature to draw such a conclusion at this time... As yet, there is no definitive evidence that confirms that the BSE-infected cow originated in Canada." Evans said Canadian and U.S. authorities were cooperating closely to track the origins of the cow, but the United States needed to carry out a full scientific probe which could be submitted to international experts for peer review. "It is imperative that all the evidence be weighed and verified before anyone jumps to any predetermination," he said. "There is still much investigative work to be done... we have concerns that we feel need to be worked through and verified."...Mad Cow Case Clouds Bush's Political Outlook The discovery of mad cow disease in the United States could shift the political landscape at the start of President Bush's reelection year by injecting uncertainty into a fragile economy and drawing scrutiny to his handling of an industry that was a financial and political ally in the last election, analysts in both parties said yesterday. Bush has closer ties to ranching than to any other industry besides oil, and Democrats seized on this new avenue for attacking Bush as a captive of business. Howard Dean, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, said that it showed "the complete lack of foresight by the Bush administration once again."...Early Weaning May Increase Risk of Disease The coldly regimented process of raising a dairy cow in North America forces it at a very early age to depend on dietary supplements that in rare instances can spread mad cow disease, according to livestock experts. In addition, the frequent shuffling of young dairy cows between specialized feedlots and milking farms -- a routine part of large dairy operations -- can also make it difficult to track an infected animal back to the herd into which it was born, these experts say. When these cattle move -- even between Canada and the United States -- they are not necessarily individually identified, said Mary Beth Lang, a spokeswoman for the Washington State Department of Agriculture. "There are ear tags," she said. "But they can fall off."...Beef industry eager to resume trade with Mexico At Northern Beef Industries in Corpus Christi, the telephone kept ringing Friday morning. On the line: Mexican suppliers concerned about how they would meet demand after their country banned imports of U.S. beef products amid fears about a suspected case of mad cow disease. "They don't know anything more than we do," David Hausman, the worldwide meat distributor's president, said of the callers. "They just know the border has been shut off." Mexico closed its border to American beef Tuesday after the U.S. Agriculture Department revealed that a Holstein dairy cow on a Washington state farm had tested positive for mad cow disease. British scientists confirmed the diagnosis on Thursday. Relief for suppliers on both sides of the borders could come soon now that investigators have tentatively traced the first U.S. cow with mad cow disease to Canada...USDA to Rethink Opening Border to Canadian Cattle The United States will take another look at its proposal to reopen the border to some Canadian cattle after finding mad cow disease in Washington state, a U.S. Agriculture Department spokeswoman told Reuters on Saturday. The USDA said it believed the infected Holstein cow was likely one of a herd of 74 dairy cows imported to Idaho from Alberta, Canada, in August 2001. The USDA, which has proposed resuming imports of Canadian cattle under 30 months of age, said it would take another look at its proposal in light of the discovery of mad cow disease in the border state. "New information from the investigation will be taken into consideration," said USDA spokeswoman Julie Quick, referring to the USDA proposal...Beef Stacking Up at Port of Oakland Due to Mad Cow Case Beef is piling up at the Port of Oakland after the United States lost many of its beef exports because of the fears over Mad Cow disease. Every year more than 200,000 metric tons of American raised beef leaves the Port of Oakland destined for Asian nations like China, Japan and Indonesia...