March 22, 2001
		U.S. Sheep Seized for Mad Cow Testing Federal agents seized a flock of 234 sheep in Vermont Wednesday in an effort to determine if they are infected with mad cow disease. The sheep, who were the subject of an eight-month court struggle, are being trucked to a U.S.D.A. testing laboratory in Ames, Iowa, where they will be slaughtered and their brain tissue will be studied for evidence of the brain-wasting disease. Wednesday's action was the first seizure of any sheep or cattle in the U.S. related to the possibility of mad cow disease. Last July, four sheep from the flock tested positive for a variety of disease similar to mad cow, though it could be scrapie, a common disease which is not thought to affect humans. The sheep were being raised for milk, to be used in cheese. Experts believe that the most common route of transmission of this disease is cattle feed made with meat or bone meal from infected animals. The sheep were imported from Europe where they may have eaten contaminated feed before they were brought into the U.S. Although sheep do not develop mad cow disease under normal circumstances, laboratory testing concluded that they did contract the ailment after being fed small amounts of infected cattle brain.