Boy, am I
glad I'm vegan.
A slaughtered Holstein cow in Washington state is believed to be the nation's first case of mad cow disease, federal authorities announced yesterday while attempting to assure consumers that the nation's meat supply remains safe.
US Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman said at an early evening press conference that her agency had quarantined the farm in Mabton, Wash., where the single cow had been raised, and that it was unlikely that infected meat had entered the food supply.
But mindful that a mad cow outbreak devastated the British cattle industry in the early 1990s, the $175 billion US cattle industry and fast food companies were bracing for plummeting sales. Already last night, Japan, one of the top customers of US beef, and South Korea temporarily halted beef imports from this country.