Another Mad Cow Found

Montcalm · Post by **Montcalm** » 2003-12-23 11:32pm

I guess they did`nt have time to sell this one to a Canadian farmer

The Cleric · Post by **The Cleric** » 2003-12-24 12:47am

"BRITISH DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. You feed them sheep’s brains and they go mad. The government doesn't do anything."

I guess it's truer than I thought.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2003-12-24 01:59am

It hasn't been confirmed yet. I think I'll wait until it's more certain than "presumptively positive" to worry.

Bob McDob · Post by **Bob McDob** » 2003-12-24 02:19am

Yay, I start eating beef again and this happens. Happy happy joy joy

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2003-12-24 03:35am

CaptainChewbacca wrote:Havn't seen this yet so:

Mad cow case forces U.S. beef bans

(CNN) -- The mad cow scare in the United States has spread to Asia with Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan joining major buyers Japan and South Korea in immediately banning all U.S. beef imports.

Other major Asian importers, such as China, are deciding whether to introduce their own bans after a cow in Washington state tested positive for the brain wasting disease -- the first such case in the United States.

The farm where the cow was found has been quarantined, and a further test will be carried out in the United Kingdom to confirm a case of mad cow disease or BSE, bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

Two tests have already been carried out on the slaughtered cow, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said late Tuesday, adding that the animal had tested "presumptive positive" for BSE.

Though U.S. officials have maintained that there is no threat to the food chain, countries moved on Wednesday to shut their borders to the potential threat of mad cow disease.

Japan -- the biggest export market for U.S. beef, importing $843 million worth last year, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation – was the first to react, announcing within hours of Veneman's comments that Tokyo had temporarily stopped issuing import certificates

South Korea is the No. 3 market behind Mexico, taking beef worth about $610 million. It has halted customs inspections of U.S. beef, effectively keeping it out of the country.

Singapore's Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said in a statement Wednesday it had suspended U.S. beef imports immediately.

Singapore imported only 988 tonnes of U.S. beef, valued at $7.14 million, from total imports of 18,393 tonnes. Most beef is imported from Australia, New Zealand and Brazil, the authority said.

Malaysia also suspended imports, but like Singapore it is a minor buyer of U.S. beef, taking only about 290 tonnes a year.

In a largely symbolic move, Australia too has temporarily suspended imports. A spokesman told CNN late Wednesday there had been no recent imports of beef from the United States.

Australia is a major meat exporter and competes for global markets with the United States.

In Tokyo, shares in fast food chain McDonald's Holdings (Japan) closed down 3 percent Wednesday, following a similar fall for its U.S. parent in after-hours trading Tuesday.

McDonald's Japan says it sources all the beef used in its hamburger patties from Australia, which has had no cases of mad cow.

While exporters in Australia – one of the biggest beef exporter in the Asian-pacific region – stood to gain, Cattle Council of Australia president Keith Adams said the mad cow case was still bad news for Australian beef companies.

"This is bad news for everybody -- there's no upside to this," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Caution

Canada, hit by a similar ban from Japan after a single case of mad cow disease was found in the province of Alberta in May, reacted cautiously to the news south of its border.

Dr. Brian Evans, chief veterinary officer of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, said Canada was confident about the U.S. agricultural monitoring system, but would take appropriate action if there were any significant new developments over the next 48 hours, The Associated news reported.

"At this point and time, as I say, we have every confidence that the U.S. have had in place, that this is not a significant issue relative to the safety of the food supply within North America," Evans said.

BSE is linked to a similar form of the incurable and fatal brain-wasting disease in humans, called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, or vCJD.

There have been a small number of cases of vCJD reported worldwide, primarily in the United Kingdom, in people who ate BSE-contaminated meat.

At least 100 people have died of vCJD, and outbreaks of BSE have led to large declines in beef consumption.

Mad cow disease first appeared in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s and resulted in the slaughter of millions of cattle.

BSE spread across the European cattle industry after that, but the first case in North America did not appear until May this year, when a diseased cow in the Canadian province of Alberta was found. Eighteen farms were quarantined, but no additional cases were discovered.

Japan stopped importing animal feed from Britain in 1996, and in January 2001, banned beef imports and processed beef products from 18 countries, including EU members.

Japan was the first country to find an infected cow outside of Europe. Its first case of the disease was reported in the Chiba area east of Tokyo in August 2001.

In November this year, Japan confirmed that a 21-month-old Holstein in Hiroshima prefecture in western Japan had tested positive for BSE on October 29.

It was the ninth mad cow case for Japan since the illness was discovered in the country two years ago and its second in less than a month.
So in the first day McDonalds dropped 4% and the US Beef industry lost $1.5 billion in potential business.

Anybody with more knowledge in agriculture or economics want to comment?

EmperorMing · Post by **EmperorMing** » 2003-12-24 03:42am

I bet all the Vegans will have a field day with this...

At least I can still eat fish.

On a side note, 'mad cow disease'=crazy fat woman?

Montcalm · Post by **Montcalm** » 2003-12-24 08:45pm

I`m totaly confused,when we had one freaking cow with MCD,all Canadian beef was banned from entering the US,now the US have one cow (probably more)every country on the planet are banning American beef except Canada.....fucking morons wimps we have for Government.

[size=0]Its fucking time to overthrow this wussies democracy and replace it with a military dictatorship[/size]

Shadow WarChief · Post by **Shadow WarChief** » 2003-12-24 09:55pm

Actually, Canda has banned US beef

Montcalm · Post by **Montcalm** » 2003-12-24 09:58pm

Shadow WarChief wrote:Actually, Canada has banned US beef

Thats not what i heard

EDIT: only partial restriction

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2003-12-25 06:44pm

A British lab has confirmed the BSE.

Montcalm · Post by **Montcalm** » 2003-12-25 07:33pm

Howedar wrote:A British lab has confirmed the BSE.

And will all Americans accept this or will most of them scream "Bullshit"

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2003-12-25 09:47pm

Montcalm wrote:I`m totaly confused,when we had one freaking cow with MCD,all Canadian beef was banned from entering the US,now the US have one cow (probably more)every country on the planet are banning American beef except Canada.....fucking morons wimps we have for Government.

If we completely banned US beef, the American bastards will whack us with massive trade restrictions and completely fuck over our economy. US-Canadian relations suck ass right now as well so the US government won't exactly hesitate in slapping us punitive trade restrictions, and both sides know this so we can't push things. It's not being wimpy, it's actually just smart business.

Worlds Spanner · Post by **Worlds Spanner** » 2003-12-25 10:08pm

BSE in the US? Should I care?

Seriously. The fact that they found this means that they're testing for it, and I did eat the beef in the UK the last time I was there.

I expect that there will be paranoia and testing and much killing of herds and lost business, but should *I* stop eating beef? In the UK how many people died? 137 if I remember right? That's a tiny number against the number of cows who were infected. And that was when little was known about the disease. I'm really not concerned at all.

Is there something I don't know here?

SyntaxVorlon · Post by **SyntaxVorlon** » 2003-12-25 10:34pm

I was wondering where Ann Coulter had gotten to.

Likelyhood of this getting into our food supply is low, but the US didn't take the opportunity during the British scare to up its regulation or inspection of cattle.

salm · Post by **salm** » 2003-12-26 09:20am

sooner or later we´ll get all of you!
BWAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!

Post by **fgalkin** » 2003-12-26 03:47pm

Its' Al-Quaeda! I'm telling you! It's them!

That's not a mad cow, that's a terrorist posing as a mad cow.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Montcalm · Post by **Montcalm** » 2003-12-26 03:50pm

fgalkin wrote:Its' Al-Quaeda! I'm telling you! It's them!

That's not a mad cow, that's a terrorist posing as a mad cow.

I pity the fool when he get the same thing as in the movie Top Secret

SyntaxVorlon · Post by **SyntaxVorlon** » 2003-12-26 04:07pm

fgalkin wrote:Its' Al-Quaeda! I'm telling you! It's them!

That's not a mad cow, that's a terrorist posing as a mad cow.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

No it has to be TWO terrorists. Or else it would look unnatural and fall down a lot...
ok so its one terrorist.

Now let's bring it to India and let it wander around an old minefield.

Post by **Lagmonster** » 2003-12-27 11:17am

We got the call the other day - CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) brought in some samples and at least a few directors and researchers representing Canadian interests in this matter (and consequently those badgered by the political wings and media liaisons, who really want to know what to tell the rest of you) went in for an unscheduled work day yesterday because of it.

If anyone still cares, and if I know more than the average media outlet can tell you by then, I'll put up more on it later.

Mitth`raw`nuruodo · Post by **Mitth`raw`nuruodo** » 2003-12-27 12:07pm

One consequence of all this is that meat prices will go down a lot, I think. Cookouts here I come!

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2003-12-27 12:09pm

Somewhere, in Paris, a solitary giggle can be heard. or herd.