Details on the Case and a Recap of Trading Partner Responses from ProFarmer

USDA Chief Veterinarian Dr. John Clifford April 24 confirmed the discovery of an atypical case of BSE in a dairy cow in central California. The carcass of the cow, discovered in a pre-rendering inspection, was never close to entering the food chain. The carcass will be held at the Rendering facility during the investigation and then will be destroyed.

Dr. Clifford stressed the cow never presented a risk to the nation’s food supply or the U.S. beef export supply.

This is the fourth case of BSE in the United States. The first was discovered on Dec. 23, 2003, in a dairy cow in Washington state. That was the nation’s first, and only, typical BSE case. That cow was imported from Canada and it is thought it was infected by mammalian-to-mammalian feeding.