Mad Cow News

Russia suspends U.S. beef imports

Russia has suspended imports of U.S. beef following the first case of mad cow disease in the United States.

Russian agriculture minister Alexei Gordeyev told the Interfax news agency that the move followed official U.S. notification of the first mad cow case at a farm in Washington state.

"In connection with that, the veterinary service decided to temporarily suspend shipments of U.S. beef to Russia in accordance with the law," Interfax quoted Gordeyev as saying...

S.Africa bans U.S. beef-related imports

South Africa on Wednesday issued a precautionary ban on beef-related imports from the United States following the first U.S. reports of mad cow disease, the Department of Agriculture said.

"A precautionary ban has been issued on the importation of all possible risk materials from the USA," the department said in a statement, adding that all beef and beef products currently for sale in South Africa were considered absolutely safe for human consumption.

A department spokesman said the ban would cover chiefly imports of beef by-products such as dogfood, adding that South Africa did not import meat or live cattle from the United States.

Hong Kong halts U.S. beef imports after suspected mad cow case

Hong Kong halted imports of U.S. beef and beef products Wednesday after the discovery of a suspected case of mad cow disease in the United States.

The United States was Hong Kong's top source of chilled and frozen beef in 2002, accounting for 17,000 tons out of 53,000 tons in total imports, according to government statistics.

U.S. Meat Export Federation statistics showed the United States exported US$14.4 million worth of beef to mainland China and US$57.7 million of beef to Hong Kong. The two regions combined make up the fifth largest overseas market for U.S. beef...

Russia, Ukraine may suspend U.S. beef imports

Russia and Ukraine said on Wednesday they would follow the lead of big U.S. beef importing countries and suspend imports if the first U.S. case of mad cow disease was confirmed to them officially.

"A concrete decision will be taken after the Russian veterinarian service gets official confirmation of a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy," Yevgeny Nepoklonov was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.

A spokesman for Ukraine's state veterinarian department said a suspension would be "automatic" upon confirmation...

EC not planning to ban American beef

The European Commission has no plans to ban American beef imports - already restricted since mad cow disease hit the UK.

One outbreak of BSE across the Atlantic will not alter the current regime of trade curbs, said a spokeswoman.

America has been on the European Union's "at risk" list for beef trade for years, with import restrictions still in place partly because of the BSE threat but also because of a continuing dispute over the use of beef hormones.

"We have had a number of restrictive measures in place for a long time.

Restaurant industry acts to allay consumers' fears

When mad cow disease was discovered in an isolated herd in Alberta last spring, Americans blinked, but kept eating beef.

The question facing the nation's restaurant industry is whether consumers will be as forgiving after the first mad cow case was discovered on American soil.

Kathy Sullivan, shopping at the meat section of Star Market in Dorchester yesterday evening, said she was planning to make beef stew for Christmas. "I have the same menu every Christmas. It's tradition." But she said she would also prepare turkey, "so if people are nervous, they have their choice of what to eat."...

Beef import bans could cost U.S. billions

With a growing list of countries banning U.S. beef imports because of mad cow disease fears, the impact on the U.S. economy could be in the billions.

The United States is the leading exporter of beef in the world, totaling about $3.5 billion for 2003, according to Philip Seng, president and CEO of the U.S. Meat Export Federation in Denver.

"This would be significant if we were to lose even half our export sales," he said. "This would be a very debilitating development in the United States."...

'Canadian beef in trouble'

A farmer whose entire herd was destroyed after it was linked to mad cow disease says the first suspected case in the U.S. has left him fearing for Canada's beef industry.

"It's not good. Canadian beef is in trouble again as far as I'm concerned," Mel McCrea, 65, said yesterday. "It won't be a good Christmas for a lot of beef producers."

"If say Korea, Japan and them Asia countries close the borders to United States beef, we won't have any place to ship our beef to and we can't butcher it all here in Canada," said McCrea...

Officials to review origin of Nevada beef supply

News from the state of Washington that mad cow disease might have entered the United States sent Nevada officials to the record books to determine whether any of the state's dairy cows came from the Pacific Northwest.

But officials insisted that safeguards in place are adequate to protect the state and country's beef supply from the disease, known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy...

The worldwide spread of 'mad-cow' disease

One case of the deadly "mad-cow" disease was found in a sick animal in Washington state and was being investigated, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said yesterday. The following are key dates in the spread of mad-cow disease, believed to be transmitted by contaminated meat-and-bone meal fed to cattle:...

US mad cow case stirs restaurants, shops in Japan

Restaurants and food retailers in Japan on Wednesday were rattled by news of the first case of mad cow disease in the United States, a major beef exporter to Japan.

With memories still fresh of the outbreak of the brain-wasting disease in Japan, public fears about beef safety are expected to mount anew and damage beef consumption.

Japan on Wednesday halted imports of US beef until their safetyis confirmed following the announcement Tuesday by the US government that it had found its first case of mad cow in Washington State.

Japan has reported nine cases of mad cow disease since 2001...

News of quarantine stuns, angers, scares Mabton-area farmers

Farmers and ranchers in Mabton, southeast of Yakima, were angry and confused yesterday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a dairy cow from a local farm had been infected with "mad-cow" disease.

Meanwhile, cattle ranchers up and down the Yakima Valley predicted a potentially devastating effect on the industry's recent recovery. The industry is experiencing all-time high prices, largely at the expense of Canadian producers, who are reeling from the discovery of mad-cow disease in Alberta in May.

Although the Canadian incident has been described as a single, isolated case, there was some suspicion reported at the time, still unconfirmed, that the cow in Alberta may have had links to cattle in the United States. No other information was available last night on that suspicion. One of the biggest questions to be answered is how the Mabton Holstein became infected...

Oregon Distributor Holds Beef Shipment; Wash. Co. Recalls Beef

The discovery of the first suspected U.S. case of mad-cow disease in Washington state has caused federal inspectors to instruct at least one Oregon meat distributor to hold its beef shipments. Also late Tuesday, a Washington meat company voluntarily recalled more than 10,000 pounds of raw beef.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that Vern's Moses Lake Meat Co., in Moses Lake, Wash., had voluntarily recalled 10,410 pounds of raw beef that may have been exposed to tissues containing the infectious agent. The Moses Lake establishment is one of several that may have received the meat, officials said...

CU expert 'shocked' that meat processed

A leading Colorado authority on the human version of mad cow disease said Tuesday he was "shocked" that meat from a sickened cow apparently made it into the food supply.

Patrick Bosque, a neurologist at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, was reacting to the news that a dairy cow in Washington state appears to be the country's first case of mad cow disease.

Initial reports suggest officials knew the cow was a so-called "downer" animal - those exhibiting symptoms of a neurological or other disease - but was still slaughtered for its meat...

Australia Could Benefit From Asian Bans On US Beef

Already, industry players are expecting Australia and New Zealand, the biggest competitors of U.S. beef products, to benefit from the fall-out.

Thus far, Australia has had no case of BSE.

If the disease can't be contained in the U.S., Japan "will have to look for alternative sources of U.S. beef, which means more Australian or New Zealand beef" in the coming year, according to a Japanese government official.

Australian Agriculture Minister Warren Truss said the country's beef exporters could increase their supplies to Asian markets, following the discovery of the suspected mad cow case...

Mad cow case hits McDonald's shares

McDonald's shares dropped suddenly in after-hours trading Tuesday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that tests indicated a Washington state Holstein had the nation's first case of mad cow disease.

Cattle markets and shares of major meatpackers and producers are expected to experience similar declines beginning Wednesday, analysts said, in a shift that would reverse the good fortunes the U.S. cattle industry has enjoyed this year...