MAD COW NEWS

Quarantine for more mad cow herds Two more herds in Washington state have been quarantined as the number of cattle linked to a cow infected with mad cow disease increases, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Tuesday. Investigators are still searching for 58 of the 81 cattle that were the herdmates of a Holstein cow found infected with the disease last month. Six American herds have now been quarantined since the first U.S. case of mad cow disease was announced on December 23 in Mabton, Washington....Brain-wasting diseases date to 18th century The family of brain-wasting diseases we know as mad cow has a long history that ranges from 18th century sheep to cannibals in New Guinea and has been killing one in a million Americans for decades. The recorded history of these disorders begins more than 200 years ago in England, when the wool industry was threatened by a disease that devastated sheep flocks.... Senate Democrats Delay $373 Billion Bill Senate Democrats said Tuesday they will stop stalling an overdue $373 billion spending bill over food labeling rules and other issues, bowing to pressure to accept the measure's boosts for veterans and other popular programs. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., removed any drama by predicting the Senate would approve the bill by next week, regardless of whether the problems were resolved. Majority Republicans had said repeatedly they would not alter the food labeling or other provisions that Democrats opposed....Expert predicts strong 2004 cattle prices A Texas expert predicted strong cattle prices in 2004 despite the first U.S. case of mad cow disease, but not the record levels of a year ago. "Prices are less than what we had originally forecasted, revised down from $11 to $14 per hundred weight for each weight class," said Dr. Ernie Davis, Texas Cooperative Extension livestock marketing economist, in a report to a Waco agricultural conference Tuesday. "But when you look at prices, you'll see they are relatively high. It may rebound better than we thought." Short cattle inventories, coupled with continued strong consumer demand, continue to be important drivers of the current beef market. Trade with Mexico was likely to resume in the next 30 days for live cattle less than 30 months of age, Davis said....Congress Seeks Ban on Downer Animals Consumer and animal-health groups, working with some members of the U.S. House of Representatives, on Wednesday will renew their call for broad prohibitions on "downer" animals entering the food chain. Following the Dec. 23 discovery of the first U.S. case of mad cow disease, the groups are hoping for additional momentum for legislation that would ban the use of all downer animals, including cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and horses Beef industry to launch TV ad campaign A $4 million television ad campaign promoting beef will start on Jan. 26 after a two-week delay following the discovery of a U.S. cow infected with mad cow disease. The ads were originally scheduled to start Jan. 12, but the Denver-based National Cattlemen's Beef Association withheld them because news coverage of mad cow. "From a marketing perspective, consumers watching (mad cow) news clips followed by 'Beef, it's what's for dinner' was not what we wanted," said Mark Thomas, vice president of global marketing for the cattlemen's association. The campaign focuses on beef's appeal and its nutritional value compared with chicken. It doesn't mention beef safety; polls conducted for the cattlemen's group since the mad-cow case show that 89 percent of consumers are confident beef is safe.... Certification: a Firewall to Protect Against "Mad Cow" FCI was founded in March 2001 as an independent, non-profit organization to provide third-party certification services to companies wishing to certify compliance with the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) BSE feed rule. The organization was founded in response to requests from feed manufacturers, as well as from producers, meat packers and food companies for documentation that their cattle and/or beef had not been fed restricted-use protein products. In Europe, feed has been identified as a conduit for spreading BSE. Currently, FCI has two certification programs underway to insure compliance with federal regulations: restricted-use protein products, and plasma hemoglobin....Canada farmer: Keep good records Keep good records, Shirley Forsberg advised her fellow farmers last week. Shirley and her husband, Wayne, know more than they ever wanted to know about animal health and feed records that go back to 1965. They include entries for April 4, 1997, for the Holstein that in December 2003 tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, launching the first U.S. BSE investigation....