US gov't calls for calm about the mad cow case

The US government on Saturday urged consumers not to worry about the safety of meat as they await conclusive results of tests to determine whether the United States has a new case of mad cow disease.

US Agriculture Department announced on Friday that the initial test of one animal in the country failed to rule out mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE. However, the department would not identify the animal until more tests are done.

"The inconclusive result does not mean we have found another case of BSE in this country," Deputy administrator of the department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service John Clifford said.

He also said that the US government remains confident in the safety of food in the United States and the meat from the suspected animal did not enter the human food supply or livestock feed.

A mad cow case was found later last year in the United States and meat from the sick Holstein reached markets in eight US states and one territory.

Source: Xinhua