July 5, 2004

USDA Says Second Inconclusive Mad-Cow Test Is Negative

The second finding of an "inconclusive" screening test result for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, which was announced June 29, has been confirmed negative Friday in a statement released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
 
John Clifford, USDA's chief veterinarian, said the USDA was informed by its National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, at 1445 ET (1845 GMT) Friday "that the inconclusive screening test sample reported on June 29 tested negative for BSE upon confirmatory testing."
 
The first inconclusive screening result, announced by USDA on June 25, was confirmed negative on June 30.
 
According to USDA data, 8,585 BSE screening tests were performed on cattle in June, when the USDA began a massive new effort over 12 to 18 months to get a "snapshot" of BSE prevalence by testing as many as 268,000 cattle in the U.S. So far, all but two have resulted in negative findings.
 
Japan and South Korea continue to maintain a complete ban on U.S. beef since a BSE case was discovered here in December, but Mexico and Canada have opened up to some U.S. beef.