Two More U.S. Herds Quarantined Over Mad Cow

[redqueen]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&ncid=564&e=2&u=/nm/20040120/ts_nm/madcow_quarantine_dc_2

2 hours, 42 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two more herds in Washington state were quarantined over the weekend, as the number of cattle linked to a cow infected with mad cow disease increased, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Tuesday.

For several weeks, USDA investigators have been searching for some 81 cattle that were the herdmates of a Holstein cow found infected with the disease last month. The animals were shipped to the United States from a Canadian dairy farm in September 2001.

Investigators want to find the infected cow's herdmates, since they might have shared the same source of feed during the three or four years after birth. Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE (news - web sites)), is believed to be spread through contaminated feed.

A total of six American herds have been quarantined since the first U.S. case of mad cow disease was announced on Dec. 23 in Mabton, Washington.

[yellowcanine]

1. If we had an ID system in place

We could have identified all of the cows in that herd within hours if we had a birth to slaughter to supermarket ID system in place. Another example of the perils of deregulation.

[R Hickey]

2. Why are they not testing every single one?

I'm not so sure that there are no tests to determine the presence of Mad Cow prions in these animals. Why have only thirty out of over a hundred of the mature cattle been tested?

This is not a good time for a cover-up. Other than the thirty cows they have tested, they have done little but 'smoke and mirrors.'

Our current, corrupt 'third-world style' government seems to have no trouble finding money to test Sunday-school-girls for smoking pot, yet they cannot figure out how to test a drooling, staggering cow, even when the tests are avaliable and currently being used in first-world countries, such as Japan and in Europe.

[Gin]

4. maybe there is a tracking system in place...and they are milking this

drip by drip to keep the sheeple in line

When money is involved..I can't believe there isn't some sort of tracking....don't they brand cattle anymore?

[yellowcanine]

6. There are ear tags and tattoos but

ear tags come off amd get lost. Tattoos do not always remain legible and besides once the skin is separated from the carcass the carcass can't be identified anymore, let alone when/if the carcass is made into hamburger. I believe branding isn't used as much because of the cost (labor intensive) and also may be because of damage to the hide.

[madrchsod]

3. i thought it was ok !!!!!

isn`t that what the bbq president said that it was ok to eat beef?..i trusted him and he`s let me down...

[Westegg]

5. Woodstock (Bovine) Nation!

Hey, people! If we cook real hard, maybe we can stop this brain!
---Wavy (Beef) Gravy

[Journeyman]

7. The US is looking for the 81 herdmates. . .

of the infected cow that may have shared the same source of feed during the years before they were shipped to the States. But what about the rest of the cattle on that Canadian farm? Are the Canadians looking for those cows? Or are cows slated for the States fed from a different menu than cows intended for domestic (Canadian) consumption? What's the story there?