pommies have 'world's top mad cow lab'

Australia ready to meet demand after US scare

Australian beef producers say it is too early to predict how international markets will react to a positive test result for mad cow disease in the US but believe they are well placed to fill any extra demand.

US Agriculture Department (USDA) testing of three suspect cows has returned a positive result for mad cow disease for one of them.

USDA says the possible second US case of mad cow disease was in an older Texas cow that could not walk, but they do not know if it was imported, as was a cow of Canadian origin in Washington state confirmed positive for mad cow disease in 2003.

Brain samples from the latest animal will be sent to the world's top mad cow lab in Weybridge, England, for final testing.

It was expected US beef would re-enter Japan later this year, bringing to an end an 18-month ban which has given Australia a beef export boom.

The Cattle Council's Michael Hartmann says local farmers will watch the test results closely.

"If it is a negative result there wouldn't be any adverse reaction, but if the results come back from the UK as a positive, then one would have to assume there may be some reaction again to how long it might take for the US to re-enter the international market," he said.

The Federal Government will not be commenting on the case until further UK test results are released.