Mad Cow Disease Found At Central California Dairy
update:

SEOUL, South Korea – Two major South Korean retailers suspended sales of U.S. beef following the discovery of mad cow disease in a U.S. dairy cow. http://www.cnbc.com/id/47168438

via San Jose Mercury:

Mad-cow disease found in Central Valley dairy cow

By Paul Rogers

progers@mercurynews.commercurynews.com

In a move that could raise new questions about food safety and result in economic setbacks to California’s multi-billion-dollar agricultural industry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday confirmed that a case of mad cow disease has been found in a dairy cow in the Central Valley.

The cow tested positive at a rendering facility in Hanford, 15 miles west of Visalia in Kings County, operated by Baker Commodities, the company confirmed Tuesday afternoon. Baker has 21 plants across the United States that convert animal by-products into pet food, poultry feed and tallow, used in soaps, paints and cosmetics. The company advertises that it provides “dead stock removal” for dairy cows and cattle.

“Our facility collected it from a local dairy,” said Dennis Luckey, a spokesman for the company. “It was going to be rendered.”

Although many dairy cows in the U.S. are eventually slaughtered for pet food and other products, some are turned into ground beef and other types of meat for human consumption, including for fast-food restaurants and school lunch menus.

Mad cow disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, is a progressive brain disease that is always fatal in cattle.

After a dairy cow in Washington state was diagnosed with mad cow disease in 2003, it devastated the U.S. beef industry. Dozens of countries refused to import U.S. beef, and U.S. beef shipments plunged 82 percent.

Numerous questions remained unanswered Tuesday, including where the cow came from, how it got the disease, whether other animals in the herd might be infected and whether any meat from them has been sold for public consumption.

http://www.mercurynews.com/health/ci_20469701/mad-cow-disease-found-central-california-dairy-cow

more from HighBoldtage on mad cow:

http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/?s=bovine

more from google news:

http://urlet.com/subscription.rainbow

reblogged from http://highboldtage.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/mad-cow-disease-found-at-central-california-dairy/