USDA investigates possible case of mad cow disease

Here is Libby Quaid's (AP) reporting via the Chicago Tribune website:

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investigating a possible case of mad cow disease, the agency's chief veterinarian said Saturday.

A routine test indicated the possible presence of mad cow disease, John Clifford said. The USDA would not say where the animal was from.

The cow did not enter the human or animal food chain, Clifford said.

The department is conducting more detailed tests at its laboratory in Ames, Iowa, and should have results in four to seven days.

"This inconclusive result does not mean we have found a new case of BSE," Clifford said, giving the abbreviation for the disease's formal name, bovine spongiform encephalopathy.