09:49 AM PST on Thursday, January 15, 2004

By RAY LANE, KING Staff

SEATTLE - Another Washington dairy cow farm was placed under quaratine Thursday morning, and new allegations have surfaced that the federal government is not doing enough to stop the disease.

The USDA said at least one animal on the farm in Quincy, Wash., was linked to the Holstein cow infected with mad cow disease, prompting the quarantine at the farm authorities have refused to name.

AP A cow's breath is seen in the morning chill on the dairy farm Sunny Dene Ranch Dec. 26 in Mabton, Wash.

Meanwhile, a federal meat inspector has called the government's reaction to mad cow disease '"inadequate." He, along with consumer and food safety groups, will offer their recommendations later Thursday in Washington, D.C., on what should be done as Washington state scrambles to stamp out the disease.

Washington Gov. Locke on Wednesday visited a Yakima meat processor and a store in Mabton where he picked up a box of steaks, in part to show his support of the safety of U.S. beef.

But in Mabton, epicenter of the mad cow scare, ranchers and farmers were looking for more than a photo opportunity - they want a quick end to all this.

“We are making progress. It is painstaking,” said Kevin Varner, USDA incident commander. “It is slow this week. We will probably look at 40,000 or 50,000 dairy cows.”

That means there could be more farms added to the quarantine list as some 70 federal investigators are on what's been called "the missing bovine case.” Locating all the cows from the Mabton mad cow's birth herd is critical to making sure mad cow disease does not spread to humans.

Farmers across the country are eager to put the mad cow scare behind them.

“We don't want to see a decline in the demand for beef,” said one farmer.

Another sign of concern: Later Thursday in Olympia, a mad cow march will be held at the Capitol by people concerned about downer cows still being used in food by-products.

That will happen as a rare joint hearing by the Senate and House agriculture committees gets under way Thursday night.

The government is now considering a new plan to mark the country-of-origin for all beef brought into the U.S. That would make it easier to trace back any potential problems.