Report Suggests Canada May Be Noncompliant With Minimal Risk Rule
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a formal letter sent today, R-CALF USA has asked Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns to determine if Canada is in violation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Minimal Risk Region Rule (Final Rule) and explain to Canada...

Top-flight BSE Surveillance Keeps Borders Open for Trade
ALBERTA - The Food Safety Division’s (FSD) animal surveillance system for detecting bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Alberta cattle is helping to keep the borders open for trade with other countries, says Dr. Gerald Ollis, Alberta’s chief provincial...

Prometric Announces Positive Development For Mad Cow Disease Detection
MONTREAL – BSafE Innovations Inc. (BSafE), a joint venture company owned by ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. (TSX - PLI) and Top Meadow Farms, dedicated to veterinary applications of prion research, is delighted to announce preliminary findings from its most...

Identifying Variation In U.S. Bovine Prion Gene
US - Do genes affect bovine spongiform encephalopathy - also known as BSE, or “mad cow” disease? Are some cattle more susceptible than others?

Idaho County Mulls Dairy Moratorium
IDAHO - One of the state's biggest dairy counties is considering whether to put the brakes on livestock development, at least temporarily.

BSE In Rodents - Boost For Research
US — For the first time, a new study demonstrates that certain rodents can be directly infected with CWD and therefore serve as animal models for further study of the disease.

WSU's BSE Surveillance Program To Continue
US - The bovine spongiform encephalopathy surveillance program at Washington State University isn't ceasing operation after all. It will continue for at least another six months and perhaps many more.

U.S. Packers Mull Attempts To Re-Enter South Korean Beef Market
US - U.S. companies are seriously considering trying again to sell beef to South Korea - a country that has rejected every shipment since September 2006 - now that it has relaxed a particularly stringent regulation that scared off U.S. exporters for months,...

GeneThera Developing Marketing Plan for Mad Cow Testing
US - GeneThera, Inc. announced today it is developing a comprehensive marketing program for its Mad Cow testing kit for use within the United States.

Birth Cohort Of Canadian Mad Cow Exported To U.S.
US - A heifer born from an animal in the same herd as a Canadian bull diagnosed in February with mad cow disease was exported to the United States in 2002, but a U.S. official said on Tuesday there is no evidence the animal had the brain-wasting dise...

Mad Cow: Is America Next?
US - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in March it was reducing its national Mad Cow testing and tracking programs by 90 percent. The USDA will reduce its cattle-testing level to 40,000 cattle per year down from an average of about 360,000...

USDA Extends Mad Cow Testing At WSU Veterinary College
US - The only mad cow testing laboratory in the Pacific Northwest will remain open for another six months, but officials insisted Wednesday it isn't because of increased fears of the chronic brain-wasting disease in the region.

RMFU Board Opposes Further Opening Border To Canadian Cattle Im
US - Meeting in Denver recently, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union Board of Directors expressed strong opposition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's pending rule to expand imports of beef and live cattle from Canada.

Creekstone Ready To Test Its Animals
US - Creekstone Farms Premium Beef is getting ready to test all the cattle it slaughters for mad cow disease, after a U.S. district court judge ruled that the federal government does not have the authority to regulate the test, a Creekstone official said...

U.S. trade negotiators renew resolve to press Japan on beef
US - U.S. trade negotiators renewed their determination Monday to prod Japan to raise the age limit on cattle eligible for imports to 30 months from the currently agreed 20 months and fully reopen its market to U.S. beef imports.

Creekstone Wins Testing Case; Appeal Likely
US - Creekstone Farms Premium Beef and other meatpackers have the right to test all the animals they slaughter for mad cow disease, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

Region's sole lab that tests for mad cow will shut soon
US - The government is scaling back its testing and tracking programs nationwide, saying the costs aren't warranted.

South Dakota vs. USDA and Canada over live cattle
US - A U.S. Senate subcommittee chaired by North Dakota Democrat Byron Dorgan held a field hearing in North Dakota Wednesday on USDA’s proposed over-thirty-month rule, also known as USDA's minimal risk rule II, which would allow any Canadian cattle born...

Mad-cow scrutiny is scaled way back
US - While Washington ranchers are raising a fuss over Canadian cattle and the danger of mad-cow disease, the region's only mad-cow testing lab is quietly preparing to close March 1.

Groeneveld expects BSE case to impact U.S. border decision
US - Alberta Agriculture Minister George Groeneveld said the discovery of the ninth case of BSE in the province is unfortunate considering the U.S. has begun the process of normalizing cattle trade with Canada.