A spokesman for valley Congressman Devin Nunes told CBS47 that the lawmaker was briefed Wednesday by an official with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who revealed that the cow that tested positive for mad cow disease came from a dairy in Tulare County. The spokesman said there are no plans to release the dairy's name.
Employees at a Hanford-area transfer station operated by Baker Commodities, Inc. picked the dead, five-year-old dairy cow for random testing after it arrived at the facility last week, investigators said. Initial tests came back inconclusive. The U.S.D.A. confirmed Tuesday that the cow had a rare, atypical form of the disease, which means it did not get it by eating infected cattle feed.
"It's understandable that people are fearful. Typically, fearful of the unknown. But there's really no reason to be alarmed at this point," said Tulare County Farm Bureau Executive Director Tricia Stever-Blattler.
Some in the cattle industry are now wondering what impact, if any, the case will have on U.S. cattle sales and exports even though the infected cow never posed any threat to the nation's food supply.
In South Korea, one retailer has already removed American beef from its store shelves. For now, the country's government has enhanced surveillance on U.S. beef imports, a spokesman for U.S. Meat Export Federation said.
"If you're a cattle producer, sure you have some concerns, you know, with the price of your product. But when everybody stepped back and took a look at the situation and analyzed the data that was presented, I mean there's really no risk to the consumer," said Visalia Livestock Market auctioneer Randy Baxley.
Several industry experts told CBS47 on Wednesday that it's too early to tell if the case will have any impact on prices consumers at the grocery store.
The Visalia Livestock Market and Randy Baxley have no connection to the recent mad cow case.