Mad cow quarantines lifted at 2 California dairies

FRESNO — Quarantines were lifted on two Central California dairies associated with a case of mad cow disease after investigators found no link between the illness and food the diseased bovine might have consumed, federal officials said Friday.

The tests were part of an investigation begun in April when an examination of a carcass of a nearly 11-year-old cow taken to a Hanford rendering plant tested positive for mad cow disease, the nation’s fourth case and the third “atypical” strain to be discovered.
Mad cow disease is a deadly affliction of the central nervous system that can be transmitted to humans who eat meat from infected cows. Read more…