May 28, 2004

Further Cases Of BSE Expected To Be Found In US

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman says she is expecting more cases of mad cow disease to be found in the United States, as meat inspection systems are improved. The Secretary says she cannot predict how key buyers of U.S. beef, like Japan, will react.

Japan was the United States' biggest beef customer before a single mad cow case appeared in Washington State. Now Australia is the main supplier as the U.S. works to restore Japanese confidence, which Veneman admits could be tough.

"We anticipate that we may find a few additional cows and we are prepared for that," Veneman said. "Certainly, we've discussed this with our trading partners, in terms of a very robust system that we are implementing-in terms of surveillance in this country."

Veneman hopes America's trading partners will recognize that the U.S. is aggressively trying to find and limit new cases of mad cow disease.