General

US officials find mad cow disease in California

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it has found its first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease since 2006, the Wall Street Journal reports. A California dairy cow tested positive for the disease, making it the fourth infected cow ever found in the U.S.

USDA officials have reportedly stated that no meat from the cow has entered the food system. In 2003, major importers of U.S. beef temporarily blocked the meat in the face of BSE scare. This time, the USDA says they don’t expect any major importers of U.S. beef—like Japan and South Korea—to ban the product from their countries.

The organization conducts tests on about 40,000 cows every year.

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