WASHINGTON, May 13 (UPI) -- Federal agriculture officials did not conduct any mad cow disease tests in the past seven months at a Texas firm where federal test policies were violated.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture also failed to test a single cow in 2002 at another Texas slaughterhouse --San Angelo Packing in San Angelo-- that processes high-risk downer cows, according to agency testing records obtained by UPI under the Freedom of Information Act. Downer cows are those unable to stand or walk, which can be an indication of mad cow disease as well as other disorders.
USDA spokesman Jim Rogers told UPI the agency has not conducted any mad cow tests at Lone Star Beef Processors, in San Angelo, Tx., this fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2003.
The revelations come in the wake of a case at Lone Star last month in which a cow that had signs of a brain disorder was not tested for mad cow disease, despite a USDA policy to test all such cows because these are considered the most likely to be infected.
