Cows likely not to be "mad"

After a follow-up test the Agriculture Department said Wednesday that no signs of mad cow disease were found in an animal that was singled out in preliminary screening last week.

Officials declined to provide any additional information about the animal. Test results on a second carcass that also was singled out as possibly being infected will not be available for several days, reports globeandmail.com.

On Friday, USDA announced that a "rapid" test on a cow in its newly broadened surveillance program showed an "inconclusive" result for mad cow disease. The USDA refused to release information on the age or location of the cow, but said tissue samples had been sent to the federal laboratory in Ames, Iowa, for further tests, cites govexec.com.

"That particular result is negative for BSE on confirmatory testing," John Clifford, the department's chief veterinarian, told reporters. BSE stands for the formal name of mad cow disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, reuters.com reports.