Mad cow traced to Centralia business

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced late Tuesday afternoon that a Washington cow processed by a Centralia slaughterhouse initially tested positive for the country's first case of mad cow disease.

An adult Holstein cow, raised on a dairy farm near Mabton, about 40 miles southeast of Yakima, arrived at Midway Meats Inc. after having been slaughtered as a "downer," said Department Secretary Ann Veneman during a news conference in Washington, D.C.

Test samples from the animal were taken on Dec. 9.

A downer animal is one that arrives at a slaughterhouse unable to walk on its own, either because of a broken limb, sickness or another condition.

All cattle arriving at slaughterhouse facilities unable to walk are required to be tested, Veneman said.

The brain and spinal cord of this cow were tested twice for the disease at the Agriculture Department's National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.

Results were returned to investigators on Monday and Tuesday, Veneman said, and confirmed the animal was infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, the technical name for mad cow disease.

Federal authorities indicated bones were removed from the cow at Midway Meats before its flesh was sent on to two other processing facilities.

"Despite this finding, we remain confident in the safety of our beef supply," Veneman said. "The risk to human health from BSE is extremely low."

The brain and spinal cord, the potentially infectious parts of the animal, have been sent to a rendering plant, she said, and did not enter the food supply.

The farm near Mabton has been quarantined, Veneman told reporters, pending tests on its other cows.

At a Seattle news conference Tuesday night, Gov. Gary Locke told reporters he wanted to track down the remains of the cow before they are consumed.

"We need to find out what happened to the meat," Locke said, who added that he still planned to have prime rib for Christmas dinner.

Bill Brookreson, deputy director of the state Department of Agriculture, who also spoke at the news conference, said he believed the cow came from a dairy operation and any meat would likely be used for hamburger.

Brookreson said the state was in the process of working with Midway Meats on the issue.

In a telephone interview during Veneman's news conference Tuesday, Midway Meats owner William Sexsmith said he had not heard anything about the mad cow episode before The Chronicle's phone call.

"I wish somebody had let me know something about this," Sexsmith said. "… Call me back in two hours."

Telephone calls to Midway Meats were not answered for the rest of the day. An answering machine message left at Sexsmith's home was not returned.

At the concrete block building where the cattle are slaughtered, a reporter and photographer for The Chronicle were ushered out of Sexsmith's upstairs office.

"You need to leave," Sexsmith said. "You are trespassing. Please do not return."



Midway Meats came under scrutiny a year ago for processing downer cattle, when it was subject of a KIRO-TV special report emphasizing the health risks associated with downers.

Video footage of Midway Meats indicated federal meat inspectors were not always present to inspect the downer cattle delivered to the slaughterhouse.

The USDA does allow the beef from properly inspected downer cattle to be used in hamburger, hot dogs and soups, and meat processors are not required to inform consumers if the meat they buy is from downer cattle.

However, Congress recently banned the use of beef from downer cattle in the federal school lunch program.

According to the USDA, Midway Meats stopped slaughtering downer cattle on Oct. 30, 2002, the day before KIRO-TV televised its footage of the slaughterhouse.

It has apparently since resumed the controversial practice.

At the Seattle news conference, Locke said it was too early to assess the economic effect of the Agriculture Department's announcement.

"The primary objective is to assure the health and safety of the people of Washington and to make sure no other herds are affected," Locke said.

Those who make their living in the cattle industry voiced concerns Tuesday night about how the possible discovery of BSE in a Washington cow might affect business.

Bob Cullers, a representative for ABS Global in Elma, a firm that sells bull semen for breeding cattle, said it might not hurt his company's business. But he wondered what steps the government would take next.

"If they end up finding mad cow disease here, are they going to quarantine the state?" Cullers said.

Mad cow disease, or BSE, is caused by a microscopic protein without DNA called a prion that invades the spinal cord and brain.

USDA officials said there is virtually no risk to humans from eating muscle cuts: Most of the risk is associated with the central nervous system of infected cattle.

In humans the equivalent of mad cow disease is called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, or vCJD.

Outbreaks of the illness killed more than 100 people in Europe in the 1980s, where mad cow disease laid waste to the beef industry.

The disease bores holes through brain tissue, leaving behind a spongy substance. In humans, it can cause symptoms similar to dementia and Alzheimer's. There is no known cure for the disease, which is always fatal.

Scientists believe that prions infect cows that are fed the rendered remains of other cattle, a practice that is now illegal. Cows are naturally herbivores.

A cow infected with BSE was discovered earlier this year in Alberta. Veneman said it was too early to tell if the two occurrences of the disease are related, but called it "doubtful."

Andrew Binion covers state government for The Chronicle. He may be reached at 956-0543, or by e-mail at apbinion@hotmail.com. Jennifer Latson covers rural Lewis County, South Thurston County and East Grays Harbor County for The Chronicle. She may be reached at 807-8245, or by e-mail at jlatson@chronline.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.