Retesting Reveals Mad Cow Case

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said: "The administration's response to mad cow disease appears to be more public relations than public health. The Agriculture Department now says it's taking aggressive steps, but just a few weeks ago the department was talking about easing the ban on 'downer' cattle in the food supply and sharply reducing mad cow surveillance."

Industry groups had a different view. "The bottom line for consumers remains the same: Your beef is safe," the National Cattlemen's Beef Association said in a statement. "Scientists, medical professionals and government officials agree that BSE is not a public health risk in the United States. BSE infectivity has not been found in beef, including steaks, roasts and ground beef."

"This test result should be seen for what it truly is -- proof positive that the surveillance system for BSE in the United States is working," said J. Patrick Boyle, president of the American Meat Institute. "The enhanced testing program that the government started on June 1, 2004, is part of the multi-firewall system that this county has undertaken for nearly 15 years to staunch BSE."

The positive result is likely to further complicate several contentious issues. The administration is eager to reopen the Canadian border to shipments of live cattle -- favored by some large beef packers with operations on both sides of the border but opposed by many U.S. cattle farmers and feedlot operators who fear additional contamination from Canada. At least four mad cow cases have been identified in Canada.

In addition, the administration has sought to modify the ban on allowing "downer" cows into the food supply. It imposed the ban after the first mad cow case was uncovered in Washington state in late 2003. Downers -- animals that cannot stand on their own -- are at higher risk of having mad cow disease.

Ranchers and beef industry spokesmen have argued that some "downer" animals are not sick but get injured during transport, and so should be allowed into the food supply. Others have said animals that fall during transportation are more likely to be sick, and so all should be excluded.

"The safety net put into place by the Agriculture Department in 2003 kept this sick animal out of the meat case," said Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society of the United States. "This case calls into question the reliability of USDA's BSE testing program and demonstrates the need for a permanent ban on slaughtering animals too ill or injured to walk."

Johanns said the department has not learned where the animal was born and spent its nine years of life. Earlier, the department identified the diseased animal as one previously reported in mid-November, and USDA records show that animal came from Texas.

USDA officials also acknowledged during yesterday's news conference that the agency lab in Ames, Iowa, had tested the sample three times with the IHC method. Two results were negative but one was positive.

Clifford, the USDA's chief veterinarian, said that because the method used in the third test was considered unvalidated and "experimental," the positive finding was not included in the agency's conclusions.