Mad Cow Scare Helps Companies With Animal Homing Devices

At 2 p.m. EST, the Agriculture Department will hold a conference call to update the progress of the investigation, but thus far, the government has been unable to repossess a significant amount of beef distributed from the plant where the diseased animal was infected. And any determination that the cow came from Canada does little to ease concerns about U.S. herds, given the essentially unregulated flow of cattle back and forth between the two countries under various free-trade covenants.

Overseas trading partners continue to take a hard-line view on the disease, with Japanese officials saying overnight that it is still too early to lift the ban on U.S. beef imports that was imposed after the cow was detected last Wednesday. Japan imports almost $1 billion a year of U.S. beef but says it won't allow any more in until it's assured U.S. food-handling procedures are sufficient to prevent any infected meat from reaching market. Almost two dozen other countries have banned U.S. beef.

With 44,000 metric tons of beef on boats, unable to reach foreign markets because of the bans, the USDA said it was working hard to convince officials that U.S. beef was safe.

"The trade team that was dispatched [Saturday] has arrived in Tokyo and will be meeting tomorrow morning, Monday morning Japanese time, with the Japanese Ministries of Agriculture and Health to review the BSE situation and to continue to assure them that U.S. beef is safe," said Dr. Ron DeHaven, chief veterinary officer for the USDA.

The mad cow paranoia actually spurred interest in shares of fast-food giant McDonald's (MCD Quote) on Monday. Before the bell, the company's shares were upgraded by J.P. Morgan analyst John Ivankoe on grounds that the controversy could result in lower cattle prices, while the consumer reaction will likely be short-lived.