March 17, 2004 United Press International by STEVE MITCHELL

The Washington case is the only confirmed case of mad cow in the United States.

Staffers from the House Government Reform Committee, which has launched an investigation into the status of the cow, also traveled to Washington state last week to interview, for a second time, Thomas Ellestad, co-owner of Vern's Moses Lake Meats in Moses Lake, where the animal in question was slaughtered on Dec. 9.

The condition of the cow has been a focus of inquiry because three eyewitnesses who saw the animal that day have said the cow walked and was not a downer. The USDA has maintained the cow, which tested positive for mad cow disease -- otherwise known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE -- was targeted for screening because it was a downer, meaning it was unable to stand, a sign of mad cow disease.

An inspection sheet signed by the veterinarian, Rodney Thompson, indicated the cow was lying on its stomach in the trailer when it arrived at Vern's.

The cow's status is crucial to the validity of USDA's mad cow surveillance program because its premise is based on the assumption cows most likely to test positive for the disease will be found among downers and sick animals. If the cow was not a downer, it raises the question whether other healthy but infected animals have been approved for human consumption.

"(Thompson) continues to say he does not believe the cow walked," David Marin, spokesman for Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, told UPI. Marin said Thompson was interviewed in private in Washington on Monday by committee staff for Davis, along with staff for the ranking Democrat on the committee, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. Neither Davis, Waxman nor any other representative was present.

"The question now centers on the definition of 'downer,' more than whether or not that cow walked that day," Marin said.

Davis and Waxman sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman in February informing her the committee had uncovered three eyewitnesses: Ellestad; Randy Hull, the trailer driver, and Dave Louthan, the plant employee who slaughtered the animal -- all of whom said they saw the animal stand and walk on the day of slaughter.

"If this information is true, it could have serious implications for both the adequacy of the national BSE surveillance system and the credibility of the USDA," the congressmen wrote in their letter.

USDA spokeswoman Alisa Harrison declined to comment.

"I can't speak on behalf of the House Government Reform Committee and the business they conduct," Harrison told UPI.

USDA officials have not made Thompson available to the news media because the agency's Office of Inspector General has opened an investigation into allegations by Louthan that the inspection sheet was altered to indicate the cow was a downer after it tested positive for mad cow disease.

Thompson was not questioned by the committee staffers about those allegations, Marin said.

"We're not getting into that issue," he said. "That's for the (Inspector General) to investigate."

Marin said the interview with Ellestad involved going over the statements he made in his affidavit and touring his facility.

A source familiar with Thompson's testimony said the veterinarian disputed Ellestad's contention that he did not slaughter downers. Ellestad said in sworn testimony, included in the committee's letter, he had stopped slaughtering downers months before the infected cow arrived at his plant.

"Thompson said that Vern's, contrary to what Mr. Ellestad has said, slaughtered downer cows on a regular basis," the source told UPI. "He also said he's told Mr. Ellestad several times in the recent past that he (Ellestad) is 'reinventing the definition of downer.'"

Felicia Nestor, of the Government Accountability Project, a whistleblower group based in Washington, D.C., that is providing legal representation to Ellestad, disputed that assessment.

Nestor told UPI she has reviewed Ellestad's records and the facility was processing less than 20 percent downer animals, which was legal until the USDA banned downers from being slaughtered for human consumption in late December.

Louthan, who was laid off from the plant in December, said Ellestad's contention was inaccurate.

"Ninety percent of animals processed there were downers," he told UPI.

Nestor said it is possible Thompson, Ellestad and the other eyewitnesses are correct in their differing interpretations of whether the cow was a downer. The animal may have stood up at a time when Thompson did not see it, she said.

Louthan, however, told UPI Thompson never saw the cow except when it was up. "He never saw that cow until I opened that trailer door up," Louthan said. At that point, the cow was standing up and shortly after that he shot and killed it, he said, adding, "Thompson never saw that cow down."

The committee will continue its investigation into the matter, Marin said.

"As we move forward and continue to compile information, we will make public the findings of our review," he said.

Steve Mitchell is UPI's Medical Correspondent. E-mail sciencemail@upi.com