More mad cow disease

Calgary, Alberta

Canadian officials confirmed this week that they had detected their country’s second case of mad cow disease, in the carcass of an Alberta dairy cow. The announcement came shortly after the Bush administration announced that it was preparing to lift a ban on Canadian beef imports imposed 19 months ago, when Canada reported its first case of the disease. The Canadian government quarantined the farm where the cow was born, eight years ago, and promised to test thousands of old or sick cattle to quell fears of an outbreak. Canadian farmers lost $4 billion in the scare that followed the discovery, in 2003, of the first case of mad cow, which causes a fatal degeneration of the cow’s brain and can infect humans who eat tainted meat.

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