"A single Holstein cow from Washington state was tested as presumptive positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or what is widely known as mad cow disease," Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said.

The infected cow's brain and nervous system tissue did not enter the human food chain, Veneman said. That material was sent to a rendering plant to be made into pet food or used for other purposes.

Mad cow disease eats holes in the brains of cattle. It sprang up in Britain in 1986 and spread through countries in Europe and Asia, prompting massive destruction of herds and decimating the European beef industry.

People can contract a form of the disease, known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease if they eat infected beef or nerve tissue, and possibly through blood transfusions. The human form of mad cow disease has killed 143 people in Britain and 10 elsewhere, all linked to eating beef or having received blood or tissue transplants from vCJD patients.

The Japan Times Weekly: Jan. 3, 2004
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