MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US mad cow suspicious cases to be tested in UK

United States authorities will be sending samples of a possible “mad cow” case to British labs in Weybridge for additional investigation reported US Department of Agriculture USDA officials.

The sample, one of three taken, resulted in a "non conclusive" test since USDA authorities began a monitoring program in June 2004.

However USDA officials said that the suspicious animal never entered into the human consumption chain, "therefore there's no human health risk involved", said Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns.

The tissue sample belongs to one of the three animals which last November showed "non conclusive" results of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE, or "mad cow" disease. The three samples underwent a second round of tests, immuno-histo-chemical which proved negative.

But the General Inspection from the USDA, an independent service existent in all US government departments, requested additional tests of the three samples. Another two tests of three samples were done and one of them proved "reactive", said John Clifford from the USDA.

"Given the diverging results a sample of that animal will be sent to the Weybridge Laboratory in England which is officially recognized by the World Epizooties Organization from FAO", indicated Mr. Clifford. "It's an unusual case and we want to have the support from an international lab".

The human variant of the "mad cow" is known as Creutzelf Jakob disease, a rare brain degenerative disorder which appeared in Britain in the mid nineties.

The first case of "mad cow" in the US was reported in 2003 in the state of Washington and traced to Canada where several cases have been identified.

As a result Japan and other countries have banned US beef imports. Annual sales to Japan amount to 1,7 billion US dollars.

US authorities since June 2004 set up a new system of massive cattle testing totalling so far 375,000 animals. Results are immediately made public following any suspicious test results.

USDA officials said they expect that the situation will not affect "our current discussions with Japan, South Korea and Canada".