Countries ban US beef imports as mad cow disease case confirmed

THE discovery of the first case of mad cow disease in the US has led to over 30 countries banning US beef imports, dealing a massive blow to the multi-billion dollar industry that directly employs one million people.

US health officials were scrambling to trace the case to its source after a British veterinary laboratory confirmed that the infected cow had bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

Brain specimens from the Holstein dairy cow from a meat packing firm in the northwestern state of Washington tested positive for BSE at a USDA lab in Iowa. But the US Department of Agriculture sent specimens to a veterinary lab in Britain for confirmation.

The discovery presents the biggest challenge to consumer confidence in the food supply since a crisis three years ago when biotech corn not approved for human consumption showed up in hundreds of supermarket products. Federal investigators are scouring records to chart the life of the animal and others in its birth herd for evidence that they may have consumed contaminated feed.

Mad cow disease is a brain-wasting disease thought to be transmitted from animal feed containing bovine brains or spinal cord. The United States bans the use of those materials in feed.

Domestic cattle prices and fast food industry shares have taken a beating in the wake of the scare, and activists launched appeals for tougher food safety standards.

US Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said authorities were doing all they could to protect consumers and that as the spinal cord and brain of the infected cow had not entered the food chain, the impact of the case should be isolated.