Lawmaker calls for new USDA approach on animal ID. US regulators trying to develop a livestock tracking system to guard against mad-cow disease and other illnesses have spent too much time and money on the effort while making too little progress, a key lawmaker complained on Wednesday. [News Source]

Mad Cow Variant May Have Claimed Life of Va. Woman (Fox News) The 22-year-old Virginia woman suspected to have the human variant of mad cow disease died at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, The Virginian Pilot reports. [News Source]

Protecting A Life-Saving Blood Product From Human Form Of Mad Cow Disease (Medical News Today) Amid concern that recipients of certain blood transfusions may risk infection with a deadly protein responsible for the human form of mad cow disease, researchers in Canada now report development of a special filter that quickly and effectively removes the protein from blood. [News Source]