S. Korean import of U.S. beef likely to resume next week

Posted on April 26, 2007 by Mad Cow

SEOUL, April 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's import of beef from the United States is highly likely to resume next week, three years and five months after imports were originally banned over a mad cow disease scare, agricultural officials said Thursday.

"It was confirmed that the U.S. authorities are scheduled to issue a quarantine certificate for the export of 10 tons of beef around tomorrow," said an official at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. "If things go as scheduled, the beef shipment will arrive in South Korea by plane around Monday."
South Korea's quarantine authorities said they plan to conduct an X-ray inspection to see if the shipment is of boneless beef from cattle under 30 months old, a condition for imports agreed upon between the two countries in January 2006.

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US urges Japan to ease cattle ages restrictions

Posted on April 19, 2007 by Mad Cow

The United States Administration is stepping up pressure on Japan to ease age restrictions on its beef.

The move comes ahead of an international panel's findings, that the US is largely free of mad cow disease.

US Trade representative's office spokeswoman Gretchen Hamel denies a Japan Times story that the US has asked Tokyo to set a concrete deadline to fully reopen its market - now largely controlled by Australia.

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GeneThera in Preliminary Talks for Mad Cow Testing

Posted on April 19, 2007 by Mad Cow

WHEAT RIDGE, CO -- (MARKET WIRE) -- April 16, 2007 -- GeneThera, Inc. (OTCBB: GTHA) announced today it has begun preliminary talks with ranchers to test their cattle for the Mad Cow disease.

Commenting on the talks Dr. Tony Milici stated, "These preliminary talks are an important first step to establish our commercial platform once private companies will be allowed to test for Mad Cow disease in the US. We believe that allowing private companies to test for Mad Cow will have a very positive impact on the US beef industry domestically and internationally."

The USDA has previously not allowed private companies to test their cattle for Mad Cow. However, a federal judge ruled that the federal government must allow meatpackers to test their animals for Mad Cow Disease. The judge put his order on hold until the government can appeal. If the government does not appeal by June 1, 2007, he stated the ruling would take effect.

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USDA extends mad cow testing at WSU veterinary college

Posted on April 5, 2007 by Mad Cow

PULLMAN, Wash. The only mad cow testing laboratory in the Pacific Northwest will remain open for at least another six months, but officials insist it isn't because of increased fears of the chronic brain-wasting disease in the region.


The U-S Department of Agriculture says it extended the contract with Washington State University's College of Veterinary Medicine to test for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease.

The USDA has extended the contract through Sept. 30, with the option for further extensions.

The lab had been closed March first after USDA reduced its mad cow testing program nationwide.

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Slovenia confirms new case of mad cow disease

Posted on April 5, 2007 by Mad Cow

LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - Slovenia on Monday confirmed a new case of mad cow disease in a six-year-old animal slaughtered last week.

The Veterinary Administration said last week it suspected bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the cow at a farm near the city of Celje, some 70 km (43.5 miles) east of the capital Ljubljana.

"BSE in the cow was confirmed. This is the eighth case of BSE in Slovenia," the administration said in a statement.

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Judge: Government must allow meatpackers' tests for mad cow

Posted on April 5, 2007 by Mad Cow

WASHINGTON - The federal government must allow meatpackers to test their animals for mad cow disease, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, a meatpacker based in Arkansas City, Kan., wants to test all of its cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans who eat the tainted beef. Larger meat companies feared that move because if Creekstone tested its meat and advertised it as safe, they could be forced to do the expensive test, too.

The Agriculture Department regulates the test and administers it to less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows. The department threatened Creekstone with prosecution if it tested all its animals.

U.S. District Judge James Robertson ruled that the government does not have the authority to regulate the test. Robertson put his order on hold until the government can appeal. If the government does not appeal by June 1, he said the ruling would take effect.

Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is linked to more than 150 human deaths worldwide, mostly in Britain.

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