January 4, 2005

USDA Says Canada Mad Cow Case No Threat To Humans, Livestock

A new case of mad cow disease in Canada does not threaten the U.S. beef supply, said Ron DeHaven, the chief of the Agriculture Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

The department is confident that protective measures Canada and the U.S. have taken "provide the utmost protections to U.S. consumers and livestock," DeHaven said.

The measures include removal of risk material from cattle as they are slaughtered, a ban against feeding ground-up parts of cattle to other cattle, and new safeguards announced as part of a plan to resume imports of cattle from Canada in March, DeHaven said.