CJOB's Robert Holland reporting
9/6/2008
It's a discovery that could pave the way for testing live cattle for mad cow disease.
Scientists from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and the University of Manitoba have discovered elevated levels of protein in the urine of cattle with mad cow disease.
Dr David Knox of the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg told CJOB the test would be fashioned along the same line as a pregnancy test.
But other than eliminating the animal there is still no treatment for BSE..
He says if something was detected in the urine test the post mortem test would still be done for confirmation..
Doctor Knox says they will need a larger number of animals to validate results and They will also have to develop tools to isolate the protein..
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