Mad cow has home on U.S. ranges [View All]

[depakid]

International experts say the disease is "indigenous" to North America, and it will take drastic measures to stop its spread

02/05/04

JIM BARNETT

RIVERDALE, Md. -- Mad cow disease probably has been established in North America for more than a decade, and Americans should be prepared for the discovery of more domestic cases as it spreads through herds.

A panel of international experts released these findings Wednesday to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, also urging the Department of Agriculture to toughen protections put into place following the Dec. 23 discovery of an infected Holstein in Washington state.

Those protections, while helpful, are not sufficient to keep mad cow disease from spreading further, or "amplifying," within the North American herd, the researchers concluded.

"We need more, much more," said Ulrich Kihm, a Swiss scientist who led the advisory panel. "If we don't accept and implement measures -- strong measures --then we have this amplification cycle going on and on."

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