date:Dec 24, 2012
Tom Vilsack said the animal identification program will help USDA track down sick or potentially sick animals and prevent needless testing on animals that are not affected.
The tracking system will be valuable if USDA officials need to hunt down cows the agency believes might be infected with mad cow disease, the brain-wasting disease that can be transmitted to humans through tainted meat.
A dairy cow in California was diagnosed with mad cow disease in April and USDA officials conducted a mass