Bovine Brain Tested for ‘Mad Cow’ Illness

Brain tissue from a New York cow is being tested for bovine spongiform encephalitis, so-called “mad cow” disease, because abnormalities were seen when the animal was slaughtered, said experts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s veterinary science laboratory in Ames, Iowa.. However, results of several tests have shown no signs of the nervous system disorder, said Terry Medley, administrator of the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Several other diseases, including rabies, could have caused the abnormalities, he said. The cow was killed in a slaughterhouse in Alabama.