Mad Cow Disease Found in Vt. Sheep
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EAST WARREN, Vt. — The Agriculture Department on Friday ordered 376 imported sheep to be destroyed after tests showed they might be infected with a sheep equivalent of mad cow disease.
Tests of four slaughtered sheep found evidence of a version of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the scientific name for the always-fatal mad cow disease, officials said.
The tests mean the animals could have had the same disease that killed 53 people and devastated the beef industry in Britain in 1995.
“Even the remotest possibility that it could be that, I think that we have to take all precautions,” said Linda Detwiler, the department’s senior staff veterinarian.
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