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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Next >> "We are considering this confirmation," USDA spokeswoman Alisa Harrison was quoted as saying by the AP. She added that the English lab will still conduct its own test using another sample from the cow's brain, and those results are expected by the end of the week.
And on Friday, U.S. officials announced they had quarantined two calves from the cow, even though transmission of the disease from mother to calf is considered unlikely.
Despite the finding, which solidifies what U.S. officials first announced on Tuesday, health experts still insist the health risk to humans at this point is low.
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"It's like an alert. We're not as safe as we thought we might be," said David Lineback, director of the Joint Institute of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, a cooperative venture between the University of Maryland and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Nevertheless, U.S. food safety officials were working through the holidays to prevent a potential outbreak of mad cow disease.
But the world's largest beef importers reacted instantaneously. Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Mexico and Russia all have imposed various bans on U.S. meat.
The Washington state slaughterhouse that processed the diseased cow's carcass along with 19 others on Dec. 9 has recalled all 10,410 pounds of raw beef it sent out that day, according to the USDA.
Vern's Moses Lake Meat Co. said it was conducting the voluntary recall "out of an abundance of caution," even though the meat "would not be expected to be infected or have an adverse public health impact," the AP quoted the company as saying.
USDA officials have said the diseased cow joined a Mabton, Wash., farm herd of 4,000 in October 2001 and was culled from the other cows after becoming paralyzed, apparently as a result of calving. After it was slaughtered Dec. 9, its parts went to at least three processing plants, which officials haven't yet identified, the AP added. The rest of the herd is expected to be slaughtered now.
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