- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A
small number of cattle in Kansas tested negative for the potentially
devastating
foot-and-mouth disease, not seen in the United States since 1929, the U.S.
Agriculture Department said on Wednesday.
-
- "Tests were negative for the foot-and-mouth disease
virus," Alisa Harrison, USDA spokeswoman, said in a statement.
-
- Five cattle at a livestock market in Holton, Kansas,
were tested for the disease after mouth blisters were discovered on the
animals, USDA officials said.
-
- U.S. livestock has been free of foot-and-mouth disease
since 1929. Highly contagious to cattle and hogs, the disease causes
blisters
on the animals' mouths and feet and prompts weight loss and
lameness.
-
- Earlier on Wednesday, reports of a possible
foot-and-mouth
outbreak rattled commodity markets and food company shares, like McDonald's
Corp. and Smithfield Foods .
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