BCCI keen to avoid Auckland ’02 fiasco (The Telegraph) Calcutta: To avoid a repeat of the embarrassment faced on landing in New Zealand on the last tour (December 2002), when Sourav Ganguly and Harbhajan Singh were fined at the airport, manager Niranjan Shah could actually inspect the players’ cricket footwear before they set out for the upcoming visit. [News Source]

Scientists warn of first ever case of human mad cow disease from blood plasma (Daily Telegraph) The first case of a person being infected with the human form of mad cow disease after receiving contaminated blood plasma has been identified by scientists. [News Source]

USDA puts employees on leave amid drug allegations (AG Weekly) DES MOINES, Iowa - The U.S. Department of Agriculture has placed 19 employees at a laboratory campus in central Iowa on paid leave after allegations that some used veterinary credentials to purchase low-cost medications for human use. [News Source]

The Fives: Wrongly convicted cows, bruising bulls and computer generated bovines make it big (Rapid City Journal) The Black Hills Stock Show is in town, opening with some horse events today out at the fairgrounds and springing to life Friday at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. In honor of what we at the Journal call the "Cowboy Rally," I dedicate today's column to the stock show and it's lifeblood, cows. [News Source]

Reality: CWD is here to stay (Isthmus) Near the end of 2008, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) released its draft plan for managing chronic wasting disease (CWD) over the next 10 years. The state's Natural Resources Board has already endorsed one feature of the plan, agreeing in January to a statewide ban on deer baiting and feeding, and passing on that recommendation to the Legislature. But Madison activist John ... [News Source]