Quick response averts market scare in mad cow case

CALGARY – Ranchers in Alberta are on high alert as regulators have confirmed a single beef cow has been infected with mad cow disease, which could hurt efforts to improve the global health risk rating of Canadian cattle and the demand for domestic beef in key export markets. Canadian ranchers still harbour painful memories of 2003, when regulators found a cow in Alberta was sick with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly called mad cow disease. At that time, 40 countries placed export bans on Canadian beef.

By Christian Magoon:Mad cow disease was discovered in a dairy cow from central California, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This was the first case of mad cow disease in over six years and was found by the USDA's routine testing procedures.

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The reemergence of mad cow disease, discovered in a California dairy cow, could have major implications for the state’s meat industry, even though officials have said that the human food supply is unaffected.

Just in time for grilling season, the beef industry had to rev up its "Beef Is Safe" message to consumers this week, in light of the confirmation of mad cow case in California. As reported here and here, government and industry officials said the food supply was never in danger. The industry reacted quickly and ...