- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The
U.S. Agriculture Department said on Friday that another U.S. cattle herd
in Washington state is under quarantine, bringing to three the number placed
under a "state hold order" since the first U.S. case of mad cow
disease was announced on Dec. 23.
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- Two Washington state herds were quarantined last week,
soon after the diagnosis of mad cow in a Holstein dairy cow. A third dairy
herd in the state was quarantined earlier this week, USDA Chief Veterinarian
told reporters on Friday.
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- "Three facilities are under state hold orders,"
he said.
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- The USDA has been trying to pinpoint the location of
81 animals believed to have been imported from Canada with the infected
cow in 2001.
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- "We now have 11 of them accounted for," DeHaven
said. "The whereabouts of the remaining 70 animals have yet to be
confirmed."
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- Nine of the animals believed to have crossed the border
from Canada with the infected cow were already quarantined. USDA investigators
found another cow living in a dairy herd in Washington state, DeHaven said.
The 11th animal is the infected cow, which was slaughtered on Dec. 9.
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- The USDA said it will hold a meeting on Monday with industry
members to discuss how the federal government will ban "downer"
cattle -- those too sick or crippled to walk -- from the human food supply.
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- Because downer cattle are unlikely to be taken to slaughter
plants with healthy animals, more mad cow testing will have to be done
at U.S. rendering plants and on farms, DeHaven said.
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- "We are working with industry representatives to
reposition our efforts to collect those samples on the farm, at rendering
facilities and the so-called 3D -- down, dead, diseased animals -- in those
plants where those meat products are harvested," DeHaven said.
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- Under the USDA's new safety rules announced last week,
downer cattle can no longer be used to make human food and must be diverted
to rendering plants for use in pet food and other products.
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