Lab to retest suspect animal for mad cow

A U.S. Agriculture Depart-ment laboratory will conduct further tests on an animal suspected of having mad cow disease before sending samples to Britain to confirm the results, a spokesman said yesterday.

The USDA reported late on Friday an older animal tested positive for the brain-wasting disease, reigniting fears that foreign countries would shun US beef again.

The government said the suspect animal, which was first tested back in November, did not enter the human food or livestock feed supply. The only confirmed US case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, was found in December 2003 in a Washington state dairy cow. The discovery halted billions of dollars worth of American beef exports. Agriculture department Ed Loyd said the department's laboratory in Ames, Iowa, would conduct a couple more tests before sending brain samples to Weybridge in Great Britain next week.

Loyd said it was unclear whether the agriculture department would announce the follow-up test results from Ames. The USDA said it did not believe the incident would have an impact on the US beef trade.

Washington has informed all of its agriculture attaches overseas about the suspect animal.