NEWS: Mad Cow is from Texas - NYT 6/30/05

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June 30, 2005

 

Case of Mad Cow in Texas Is First to Originate in U.S.

 

By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.

 

The cow that was found last week to have mad cow disease spent its whole

life in Texas, making it the first domestic case of the disease, the

United States Department of Agriculture said yesterday.

 

Dr. John Clifford, chief veterinary officer for the department's animal

health inspection service, said DNA tests had traced the herd the cow

was born in. The animal was about 12 years old and did not leave the

ranch where it had been born until it was taken, near death, to a pet

food plant in Waco, Dr. Clifford said.

 

The animal's age made it likely that it was infected before the 1997 ban

on feeding protein from ruminants like cows and sheep to other cattle,

he said.

 

The Food and Drug Administration, he said, will check the feed logs from

the ranch where the cow was raised and the processing records of plants

where that feed was made to see that the ban was complied with.

 

The Agriculture Department is now trying to trace any animals born on

the ranch in the same year or in the years before or after, as well as

any offspring of the cow born in the last two years. All will be tested

for the disease, which will mean killing them because parts of the brain

must be scooped out to do the tests.

 

Dr. Clifford would not identify the ranch, calling that "privileged

information." Nor would he name the pet food plant, explaining that the

department relied on the voluntary cooperation of such plants for brain

samples. They specialize in turning diseased, dying and dead animals

into pet food or into dried meal for poultry and pigs, as well as into

tallow, gelatin and other products.

 

It is too early to tell what effect the announcement will have on beef

sales. On Saturday, after it became clear that the United States had a

second case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and

that it did not originate in Canada as the first had, Taiwan reimposed a

ban on American beef it had lifted two months ago.

 

But domestic beef sales and futures prices have remained relatively steady.

 

Asked whether any other states might ban imports of Texas cattle, Dr.

Clifford said he hoped not. "It wouldn't make sense with the safeguards

we have in place," he said.

 

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas issued a statement urging citizens to remain

calm and be reassured that they could trust the state's beef.

 

"I, for one, will continue to eat red meat, and intend to do so later

tonight with complete confidence," Mr. Perry said. He later issued a

revised statement that dropped the reference to his dinner plans but

added that Texas beef was "as safe today as it was yesterday."