The discovery of BSE in a California dairy cow has been
confirmed by USDA. Following that announcement on April 24, the
futures market for live cattle futures ended the trading day
locked limit down, and cattle organizations launched their
crisis communication plans, reporting the meat and milk supplies
were safe. It was bound to happen, and once again agriculture
faces a challenge. Instantly the USDA issued comments from
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack beginning with, ““The beef and
dairy in the American food supply is safe and USDA remains
confident in the health of U.S. cattle. The systems and
safeguards in place to protect animal and human health worked as
planned to identify this case quickly, and will ensure that it
presents no risk to the food supply or to human health. USDA has
no reason to believe that any other U.S. animals are currently
affected, but we will remain vigilant and committed to the
safeguards in place.” While the news release said nothing about
the animal in question, the front page