"Today, Canada announced that a six year, nine month old cow has tested positive for BSE. We remain confident that the animal and public health measures that Canada has in place to prevent BSE, combined with existing U.S. domestic safeguards, provide the utmost protections to U.S. consumers and livestock.

"However, since this animal was born shortly after the implementation of Canada's feed ban and to determine if there are any potential links among the positive animals, we will expedite sending a technical team to Canada to evaluate the circumstances surrounding these recent finds. We appreciate Canada's willingness to cooperate and assist us in these efforts. We will continue our ongoing work with Canadian officials in their epidemiological investigations to determine the facts of these cases.

"As always, protection of public and animal health is our top priority. The result of our investigation and analysis will be used to evaluate appropriate next steps in regard to the minimal risk rule published last week."