The first US case of mad cow disease is suspected in a single cow in Washington State, US Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said Tuesday, according to a CNN report.

Veneman said that the risk to human health is minimal. She said that despite of this finding "we remain confident in US beef supply."

She also said that the US Agricultural Department will take appropriate actions and that it is in the process of notifying trading partners.

Samples from the cow have been sent to Britain for confirmation of the preliminary finding, she said.

Mad cow disease, known also as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, is a disease that eats holes in the brains of cattle. In May, the first mad cow case was found in Canada, which then had an impact on Canada-US trade of beef products.

The mad cow disease could be traced back to 1986 when Britain had a mad cow trouble and it spread through countries in Europe and Asia, leading to massive destruction of herds and decimating the European beef industry.

(Xinhua News Agency December 24, 2003)