USDA Defends Canadian Cattle Safety After Latest BSE Case
WASHINGTON - U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns on Thursday vigorously defended the Canadian measures to keep its cattle and beef safe from mad-cow disease despite the country's latest case. Canada's fifth case of mad-cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, was discovered in a cow born in 2000, well after the country implemented feed safety regulations in 1997 designed to stop the spread of the disease. Canada confirmed the latest case April 16. "Canada has a very, very good beef industry," Johanns told reporters. "We've looked at their processing, we've looked at their feed ban, we've looked at specified risk material and they're doing just a lot of things very, very well."Source: CattleNetwork