Mad Cow
The first-ever U.S. case of mad cow disease is suspected in a single cow in Washington state, but the American food supply is safe, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said Tuesday.
The USDA secretary said that the testing was presumed to be positive, but emphasized that the chance of humans contracting the disease was extremely rare.
"We remain confident in the safety of our food supply," said Veneman.
She said that additional testing was being done by a laboratory in England on samples being flown there by a military transport, and that in the meantime, and farm in Washington state had been quarantined.
She told a news conference that a single Holstein cow that was either sick or injured -- thus never destined for the U.S. food supply -- tested presumptively positive for the brain-wasting illness.
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Veneman said Tuesday: "This incident is not terrorist related. ... I cannot stress this point strongly enough."
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Matt's Chat
This has some economic considerations attached to the announcement. Let's hope the Agriculture Department has a lid on this and it really is an isolated case.Mark's Remarks
Amen, Matt, lets hope and pray that the Ag Dept. has this under control and that we get the all-clear soon. Maybe they can develop a vaccine by testing it on a sufferer of this disease-Hillary Clinton. I know, I know, it was a cheap shot, but I just could not resist.....
