Sheep study calls for closer look at prion hypothesis. The infectious agent behind diseases such as mad cow, scrapie and variant Creutzfeld-Jakob disease may not necessarily be rogue prion proteins, say British researchers—a suggestion that flies in the face of current dogma about how these diseases are spread. [News Source]

Mad cow scare in Warrenton. Lab tests on a brain sample from a sick cow discovered at a Warrenton slaughterhouse in VA last week were negative for BSE. [News Source]

Smuggled poultry blamed for spreading bird flu. Vietnam estimates about 4,500 chickens are trafficked into the country every day from China in a trade that is nearly impossible to police because of scarce resources. [News Source]

Mad cow scare in Warrenton (Fairfax Times) Laboratory tests on a brain sample from a sick cow discovered at a Warrenton slaughterhouse last week were negative for bovine spongioform encephalopathy, or "mad cow disease," according to a spokesman for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services. [News Source]

US ranchers seek to bar Japan, Canada beef imports. American ranchers' group R-CALF said it was considering legal action after its members voted to try to stop the U.S. government from importing cattle and beef products from animals over 30 months old from BSE-affected countries. [News Source]

Some ranchers shy on first day since mad cow announcement (AG Weekly) TULIA, Texas -- West Texas rancher Kevin Crooks lost about $1 million in the year following the country's first case of mad cow 18 months ago. If he'd had cattle big enough to sell at the Tulia Livestock Auction on Monday, he wouldn't have brought a one. [News Source]