January 15, 2004

Another Washington Dairy Herd Quarantined In US Mad Cow Probe

The U.S. Department of Agriculture quarantined another Washington state dairy herd as it continues to track down the animals that entered the U.S. together with a cow that was discovered to be infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease.

The USDA said it has "placed a hold" on the animals at a dairy operation in Quincy, Wash., because as many as seven cows there may have come from the same Canadian herd as the BSE-positive animal.

At least one cow at the Quincy dairy is confirmed to have come from the same Canadian herd as the BSE-positive animal and possibly six others, the USDA said.

"USDA is currently reviewing records to determine how many may remain at this facility," the USDA said in a press release.

With the confirmation of the one cow found, the USDA said it has now found a total of 14 animals out of 81 from the original herd in Canada. That total includes the BSE-positive animal.

The USDA announced that a Holstein dairy cow tested positive for BSE, in the U.S. on Dec. 23. Since then, the USDA has said it believes that cow was infected with the disease several years earlier in Canada, where it was born and then exported to the U.S. in 2001.

USDA officials have said they believe the BSE-positive cow found in the U.S. was between 6 and 6 1/2 years old when it was slaughtered in the state of Washington.