US To Release Final Results Of BSE Case Investigation Tuesday
August 29, 2005
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration will release final results Tuesday of investigations conducted on the mad-cow case confirmed in June, USDA spokesman Ed Loyd said.
The infected cow was first pronounced negative for mad-cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, by USDA in November 2004, but then confirmed positive several months later after new tests were ordered by the department's inspector general.
It was the second case of BSE found in the U.S. and the first to be in a native-born cow, which was born and raised in Texas, according to USDA officials.
Since, June USDA has been searching for "animals of interest" such as cattle related to, or raised together with, the infected Texas cow and has announced some findings in piecemeal fashion since the investigation began.
On July 10, USDA said it tested 67 cattle from the herd from which the infected cow was taken. On Aug. 5 USDA reported it had located a "birth-cohort" of the cow and planned to test it.
The FDA has been investigating the feed consumed by the cow in an effort to find out how and when it was infected. BSE is believed to be spread through feed containing infected bovine tissue.
It has been illegal to feed cattle bovine tissue since 1997 when the FDA implemented its "feed ban."
