Cattle markets are rebounding today after the announcement from the U-S-D-A lab in Ames late yesterday that tests on a suspected new Mad Cow disease case came out negative. Doctor John Schiltz, Iowa’s state veterinarian, says the news was both a relief and a verification that the nation’s system of safeguards does work. Some complain the beef and corn markets dropped with news there was -suspicion- of a new Mad Cow case and instead, the news should only have been announced once the case was confirmed. Schiltz says that’s a tough call. Schiltz says he understands the concerns but has to trust that the U-S-D-A already examined those issues when it came up with these policies. New safeguards were enacted following the first U.S. Mad Cow case 11 months ago. While he doubts any infected cattle will be imported, Schiltz won’t rule out the possibility cattle were already in the U.S. before those tighter rules were put in place. He says the chances of that are remote, “but we must keep our safeguards up. I won’t say that it could not be possible… We have taken additional safeguards to protect public health and animal health even since last December. I think we’re doing reasonable, appropriate and prudent things.”
