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U.S. grapples with mad cow crisis

Washington Dec. 25. The United States battled a mad cow crisis, as it probed the first suspected case of the disease, which triggered bans on American beef exports and hammered cattle prices and fast food industry shares.

Top officials promised Americans that beef on their holiday menus was safe, saying the mad cow case unearthed in northwestern Washington state posed a negligible health threat.

While samples of the infected cow have been sent to Britain for a definitive diagnosis — which should take five days, U.S. authorities have moved beyond calling the infected cow a `suspected' case.

``We are calling this a presumptive positive,'' said Ron DeHaven, Deputy U.S. administrator for animal and plant health inspection. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan and China became the latest nations to suspend U.S. beef imports.

Japan, the world's biggest importer of U.S. beef on a value basis, imposed an immediate ban after the U.S. announcement late on Tuesday, and Mexico, the top importer by tonnage, quickly followed yesterday.

South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Australia and Thailand, Paraguay, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Russia, Peru, Canada, South Africa and UAE all halted imports, leaving the politically weighty U.S. beef industry in turmoil. — ANI

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