another case of Mad cow disease in the US

via AMERICAblog The AP reports Alabama Cow Tests Positive for Disease WASHINGTON (AP) -- A cow in Alabama has tested positive for mad cow disease, the Agriculture Department said Monday, confirming the third U.S. case of the brain-wasting ailment. The cow did not enter the food supply for people or animals, officials said. The animal, unable to walk, was killed by a local veterinarian and buried on the farm. "We remain very confident in the safety of U.S. beef," said the department's chief veterinarian, John Clifford. … The first U.S. case of mad cow disease appeared in December 2003 and involved a Canadian-born cow in Washington state. The disease was found again last June in a cow that was born and raised in Texas. The local vet examined the Alabama cow's teeth and said the animal was older, "quite possibly upwards of 10 years of age," Clifford said. Investigators are working to pinpoint the cow's age, he said. The age of the cow is important because the U.S. put safeguards in place nine years ago to prevent the disease from spreading. The U.S. banned ground-up cattle remains from being added to cattle feed in 1997. Eating contaminated feed is the only way cattle are known to contract the disease. … The Agriculture Department has been considering when to scale back its higher level of testing for mad cow disease. After the first case of BSE, testing was increased from about 55 to 1,000 daily. As of Monday, 652,697 of the nation's estimated 95 million head of cattle had been tested. The department hasn't decided how many animals to test once surveillance is scaled back but will follow international guidelines, Clifford said. In humans, eating meat products contaminated with BSE has been linked to more than 150 deaths, mostly in Britain, from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a rare and fatal nerve disease.