New tests confirm second case of mad cow disease in the United States

WASHINGTON (CP) - U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns confirmed Friday there's a second case of mad cow disease in the United States but said it will have no impact on government efforts to resume the cattle trade with Canada.

"This does not change (our) position at all with regard to reopening the border with Canada," said Johanns. While the animal's origin is still being investigated, he said there's no evidence it came from Canada.

The only other American case, revealed in December 2003, was a Washington state cow that was imported from Alberta.

The cattle trade, which was supposed to resume in March, has been stymied by a court challenge from an American ranchers' group. Two court hearings on the issue are scheduled for July.

"Equal treatment of our trading partners is enormously important," said Johanns, who emphasized the latest diseased cow never entered the human food chain or the animal feed system.

"We're going to aggressively pursue that litigation to a successful conclusion."

Prime Minister Paul Martin, speaking in High River, Alta., said the border should have been open a long time ago, based on sound science that indicates food safety measures are preventing any threat to human health.

"That there is a case in the United States, I think is not a surprise," said Martin.

"Hopefully, judges and court decisions and injunctions to the contrary, the view of the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) and the U.S. administration should prevail."

Alberta Agriculture Minister Doug Horner said it was inevitable the Americans would eventually find a BSE-infected cow but he likened the discovery to finding "a needle in a haystack."

He said the discovery could be positive for Alberta farmers because it should reduce resistance in the U.S. to re-opening the border to live Canadian cattle.

"The light at the end of the tunnel just got a little bigger," he said.

The latest case is no cause for alarm, the Canadian Cattlemen's Association said, and there's no reason for Canada or any other country that imports U.S. beef or cattle to impose any new trading restrictions.

"I appreciate the calm, the thoughtful reactions we've had from many of our trading partners, including Japan and Canada," said Johanns.

He said mad cow disease - bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE - is not prevalent in the United States and there's little chance anyone would contract the human form of BSE.

"There's a better chance you'll get hurt crossing the street to get to the grocery store to buy the beef," said Johanns.

U.S. officials were criticized for not immediately performing more sophisticated screening on the suspect cow last November when initial tests produced conflicting results.

New tests ordered two weeks ago by the department's independent inspector general were positive for BSE. Officials then sent samples to an internationally recognized laboratory in Weybridge, England, which confirmed the result.

Starting now, said Johanns, U.S. officials will perform two sets of tests on such animals instead of one.

"I want to make sure we continue to give consumers every reason to be confident in the health of our cattle herd," he said. "By adding the second confirmatory test, we boost that confidence and bring our testing in line with the evolving worldwide trend."

The latest case was a downer cow, meaning it couldn't walk. It was born before new regulations were imposed in 1997 on cattle feed, thought to be the primary way the disease is spread.

"I am encouraged that our interlocking safeguards are working exactly as intended," said Johanns.

"The animal was blocked from entering the food supply because of the firewalls we have in place."

Suspicions about another U.S. case caused American cattle prices to plunge this month and hit the industry hard as officials attempt are to regain the confidence of trading partners.

Canada has had three cases of its own. The first, revealed in May 2003, prompted U.S. officials to shut the border to Canadian cattle. Canada's industry has been devastated, losing some $7 billion Cdn in the last two years.

Officials and some industry observers on both sides of the border have said a new U.S. case of the brain-wasting disease shouldn't hurt Canada's attempts to resume the cattle trade.

But others argue another case doesn't produce the best climate for legal arguments on dropping the import ban.

"On a straight scientific level, it shouldn't make a difference," said Michael Hansen of the U.S. Consumers Union, a group fighting for tests on all American cattle over 20 months of age, thought to be at highest risk for the disease.

"It could make it easier because now it looks like there's some cases in the U.S. But politically, it will have an impact. There's going to be more sensitivity to the whole thing. People will start to look at the problems with surveillance."

The American ranching group R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America spearheaded the legal challenge that blocked resuming the cattle trade. It argues Canadian cows are a danger to American herds.

Canadian Agriculture Minister Andy Mitchell said last week "it's hard to tell" how the courts will deal with the issue.

"Whether or not it has an impact will be up to the judge."

The U.S. government is appealing a Montana judge's decision in March to temporarily extend the ban on cattle import. That case will be heard July 13 in Seattle by the U.S. Court of Appeals.

A separate hearing will be held July 27 in Billings, Mont., on the long-term fate of the cattle trade.

Stan Eby, president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, said the discovery of the infected cow is not surprising since the BSE risk is similar on both sides of the border.

"Risk assessments done in both countries have documented that, and my feeling is we're seeing that play out today," Eby said from Calgary.

"The fact that USDA has done an audit on their system, making sure it was working properly, is reasssuring. Food safety and animal health have not been compromised, and I feel very positive about that area."

On the upcoming court cases, he said: "My understanding is that all the information for both those legal cases has been filed with the court and that this particular issue will not be able to be filed with the court."

"But let's face it, it will definitely have a bearing on things because the media will display it and we know that court officials will be aware of the situation. So how it plays out remains to be seen."

Eby said the fact the latest case might be a U.S.-born cow could bode well for efforts to open the border.

"It will make discussions on opening the border to live cattle much less difficult, much easier going ahead, because we'll both be of the same BSE rating, basically a minimal risk situation."

Darcy Davis, chairman of the Alberta Beef Producers, said the case pokes a hole in the case of R-CALF.

"It's really not that surprising," Davis said.

"I guess what's painful is what we've had to come through, all this stuff. I don't know how this is going to play out in the courts at this point. I know all of R-CALF's arguments, that they're at a different status than us, kind of fall away at this point."

The U.S. National Cattlemen's Beef Association says U.S. screening, which has included 388,000 cattle in the last 18 months, has met or exceeded international guidelines since 1990.

The group is upset about suggestions from a senior U.S. department scientist that the latest case could point to a fairly new strain of mad cow disease that occurs spontaneously instead of resulting from contaminated food.