USDA: BSE confirmation could take up to two weeks; via meatingplace.com: Samples from the animal that recently tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy will not be sent to the OIE BSE World Reference Laboratory in Weybridge, England until later this week, USDA spokesman Ed Loyd told Meatingplace.com. That will mean that it could be two weeks or more until final results are obtained.

The decision to subject the samples of an animal that tested positive twice on a rapid test last October, then negative twice on an immunohistochemistry (IHC) test in November 2004 to the more sensitive Western blot test occurred as part of the Office of the Inspector General's audit of USDA's surveillance program, Loyd said.

"They felt that in the case of a split in positive and negative results, a second confirmatory test should be performed," he said. The decision was made early last week and the results were returned late in the day on Friday. The Weybridge lab, considered the most advanced in the world for BSE matters, will perform both Western blot and IHC tests, which will slow the process somewhat, Loyd said.

The OIG did not return calls for comment

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