US to kill 459 calves as mad cow fears deepen

UNABLE to determine which calf was born to the nation’s first cow diagnosed with mad cow disease, US federal officials plan to kill a herd of 450 calves out of “an abundance of caution.”

The herd of bull calves from Sunnyside will be killed this week at an undisclosed and unused facility, said Ron DeHaven, the US Agriculture Department’s chief veterinarian.

Agriculture officials decided to kill all the calves in the unidentified herd because the calf born to the sick cow was not tagged and can’t be identified. They have said they can’t rule out the possibility that mad cow disease could be transmitted from mother to calf.