WASHINGTON, (Nov. 26, 2004) — Canadian cattle industry workers are breathing a sigh of relief today as the U.S. Department of Agriculture gave a cow suspected of mad cow disease a clean bill of health.

The five-day mad cow scare came to an end yesterday as chemical tests at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa showed no sign of the brain-wasting disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, on the suspected animal.

That’s good news for cattle exporters and haulers north of the border who have been sitting on the edge of their seats these last few months waiting for U.S. President George Bush to lift an 18-month ban on live cattle from Canada. The U.S. closed its border in May 2003 when the first positive mad cow case in Alberta was discovered.

Earlier this month U.S. Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci said he was confident the U.S. would open the border to live cattle shipments in the very near future — perhaps as early as this coming spring.

But industry officials feared this newest case, if deemed positive, would have delayed the expected opening once more. Exactly one year ago, just as talks of lifting the ban began to pick-up, a second mad cow case originating in Alberta was confirmed in Washington State, icing negotiations until just recently.

However, both the U.S. beef industry and the USDA acknowledge that eventually another mad cow case is likely to be discovered among the 40 million adult cattle in the country. About 1 per cent of the herd, or 446,000 cattle, are considered in the targeted “high risk” category, according to the USDA.

— with files from Associated Press