MAD COW NEWS

More countries halt US beef imports

China, South Africa and Colombia have joined at least 13 other nations, including the top two foreign markets for US beef, in banning imports from America after reporting its first suspected case of mad cow disease.

Japan, the world's biggest importer of US beef, announced a temporary ban less than three hours after US Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said initial tests had shown that a cow from the state of Washington may have the deadly brain-wasting disease.

South Korea and Mexico, the second and third biggest US markets, Australia, Russia, Brazil, Chile, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand have also suspended imports.

In Brussels, the European Union said that it had no plans to impose extra restrictions on imports of US beef to add to protective measures that were already in place.

Canada imposed a temporary ban on some US beef products after initially saying it would await the outcome of tests by a British laboratory before taking action.

It will still allow the import of products it defines as low-risk like cattle destined for immediate slaughter, boneless beef from cattle under 30 months of age, dairy products as well as semen, embryos and protein-free tallow.

The most important export markets are Japan, Mexico, Canada, South Korea, and Hong Kong...

Mad cow sends meat shares down

Stocks in meat-packing companies and restaurant chains fell quickly Wednesday as investors reacted to the first reported case of mad cow disease in the United States.

The response on Wall Street reflected concern over decisions by at least 11 countries to cut off U.S. beef imports, and the potential that the reports might turn consumers away from buying hamburgers and steak.

Several companies heavily reliant on beef consumption lost ground in the shortened day of trading Wednesday. McDonald's Corp. fell more than 5 percent to $23.96. Wendy's International was off nearly 5 percent at $37.79. Tyson Foods, which relies on beef for nearly half of its business, saw its shares drop nearly 8 percent to $12.90...

Gov't Trying to Trace Life of Diseased Cow

Federal officials scrambled Wednesday to trace the life of the first U.S. cow believed infected with mad cow disease (search) while trying to contain the growing economic damage from a now-suspect food supply.

Federal and state-level officials worked to trace the Holstein's history before it came to its last home, Sunny Dene Ranch (search) in Mabton, Wash., in 2001. Agriculture Department chief veterinarian Ron DeHaven said officials have identified two livestock markets in Washington where the animal could have been purchased, but he did not identify them.

Because the brain-wasting disease is usually transmitted through contaminated feed and has an incubation period of four to five years, it is "important to focus on the feed where she was born," DeHaven said...

US states hesitate to ban Washington beef

Anxious state agriculture officials in the western United States were Wednesday scrambling ward off the threat of mad-cow disease after the discovery of the country's first suspected case.

But states near the northwestern state of Washington, where the first suspected case was detected, were hesitating to ban cattle and beef from Washington, even as countries across the globe halted beef imports.

In Oregon, which shares its northern border with Washington, agriculture officials said they would consider a quarantine of cattle from Washington if the situation required it, but had no immediate plans for a ban.

"No quarantine has been imposed by Oregon at this time," Bruce Pokearney, spokesman for the Oregon Department of Agriculture, told Agence France-Presse.

Agriculture officials in Colorado first banned and then early Wednesday lifted the embargo on cattle from Washington state following the discovery of mad cow disease there.

But State Veterinarian Wayne Cunningham said Colorado would not permit any cattle feeds from Washington to enter Colorado until investigation proved that they were safe...

2 Wash. State Cos. Violated FDA Rules

Two firms in Washington state, where mad cow disease was apparently found in a cow, violated government regulations designed to prevent cattle from contracting the disease, records show.

The Food and Drug Administration said the violations were minor and posed no health risks, but an environmental group wants the agency to investigate whether those problems contributed to the infection of the Holstein cow.

An October 2002 inspection found that M&E Seed & Grain Co. of Prosser, a feed mill, violated FDA regulations that were enacted in 1997 to prevent mad cow disease, officially known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE. Those rules lay out procedures to prevent mammal parts from being mixed into cattle feed.

Violations also were found at a second company, RTK Producers of Moses Lake, a trucking firm that handles animal feed, in June 2002, but a March 2003 follow-up inspection found no problems.

Both firms had only minor violations that could be easily corrected, such as missing paperwork, according to Dr. Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinarian Medicine. The FDA records do not list the specific violations...

Tory call for checks on US-NHS blood

The discovery of BSE in a cow in the USA has raised questions over the safety of US blood products used in NHS hospitals, it has been claimed.

Since 1999, as part of the Government's drive to stop the spread of variant Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) - the human form of 'mad cow disease' - Britain has sourced all plasma for blood products from the USA, where BSE was unknown until this week.

Conservative health spokesman Andrew Lansley has called on the Food Standards Agency to make checks to ensure American blood remains safe...

Atkins Advisory on the Mad Cow Disease Situation

Atkins Nutritionals Inc. is confident that the U.S.D.A. will do its very best to protect the American food supply with its full resources, as it has always done.

As can be seen in the recipes featured throughout the Atkins Web site and in our many books, we encourage a wide range of protein sources, including poultry, fish and shellfish, pork, lamb, nuts, eggs, soy and cheese. Many of our followers have been succeeding on Atkins as a weight-control program and a lifestyle for many years without the inclusion of beef in their diets. In short, while beef can be a nutritious and satisfying part of the ANA, it is not essential to it. Consumers have a wider range of choices with Atkins.

The risk for humans contracting mad cow disease is extremely remote for a variety of reasons. We encourage all Americans to seek facts and resist sensationalist hype that is often encouraged by activist groups with their own particular bias. However, for those of you who remain concerned about the current situation, be assured that you can continue to enjoy the many health benefits of the Atkins lifestyle, thanks to a wide range of protein sources available...

USDA halts livestock risk insurance due to mad cow

The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Wednesday it would temporarily suspend livestock risk protection insurance due to volatile market conditions caused by the first U.S. case of mad cow disease.

The USDA said it would stop accepting applications for Specific Coverage Endorsements for Fed Cattle and Feeder Cattle under the federal Livestock Risk Protection Insurance Policy.

"It is expected that this (mad cow disease) discovery will have a significant effect on the price of cattle for the foreseeable future," the USDA said in a statement.

Producers that have already purchased insurance will continue to receive coverage, the USDA said. However, the USDA said ranchers would not be able to insure additional cattle until further notice...

Have Yourself A Merry Little Burger (Rush Limbaugh)

So don't eat your dog - or the spinal cord and brain of any potentially infected cow. Are we clear on that? Are we also clear, as one caller who said he had 30 years in the field pointed out, that your supply of vegetables is also at risk? Nobody stands up for the beef industry in this country. It's just assumed here that all beef is potentially tainted, even though we know very little about this disease and how or if it's transmitted to humans.

Eating meat is one of those politically incorrect behaviors that the mainstream press will use any excuse to jump all over. Plus, they love to scare you because it gets you watching. The safety features worked in Washington State - but they worked at Three Mile Island, too. That didn't stop the media from screaming, "Oh, what could have happened!" This country was not built by vegetarians, folks. I have no problem with those who simply don't eat meat, but I object to the militant, extreme nuts among you...

Laboratory Backlog Delayed USDA Test for Mad Cow

A tissue sample from a Washington state dairy cow sat in a federal laboratory for a week before it was tested and diagnosed as mad cow disease because of a backlog of samples, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Wednesday.

Head USDA veterinarian Ron DeHaven said all brain samples from "downer" cattle -- animals too sick or injured to walk -- are sent to its federal laboratory in Ames, Iowa. The lab tested 20,526 head of cattle for mad cow disease last year.

The USDA defended the length of time it took to diagnose the disease.

"There was no delay here other than normal processing and the fact that we are testing tens of thousands of samples a year in that laboratory," DeHaven told reporters...