Mad Sheep Scare In Vermont

Livestock disease jitters - which Americans have been feeling from afar, with the mad cow and foot-and-mouth crises in Europe and elsewhere - hit home in a bigger way Wednesday as federal agents concerned about a mad cow-related disease swooped down on a farm in New England.

More than 200 sheep were rounded up in what was the first seizure of farm animals for fear of mad cow-related diseases, reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Axelrod.

There were also new developments in the battle against foot-and-mouth disease, with cases being confirmed for the first time in the Netherlands, and the European Union recommending a ban on Dutch livestock imports.

The first cases of foot-and-mouth turned up a month ago in Britain, which has been hardest hit. Nations all over the world, including the U.S., have imposed countermeasures against the spread of the highly contagious disease, which hasn't been found in the United States.

Spongiform encephalopathy, which is in the mad cow family of illnesses, is another matter.

"Our mission is to protect American agriculture," said USDA spokesman Ed Curlett, "that's what we're doing here."

Freeman was aware of the government's concerns and had already asked his elected representatives, Senators Patrick Leahy and James Jeffords, in addition to Rep. Bernard Sanders, to intervene.

But all three refused to stop the seizure of the sheep, saying instead that public safety demands that the animals be desroyed.

Houghton Freeman's flock of 233 sheep is one of two that has been at the center of a storm of protests since the U.S. Department of Agriculture ordered that they be seized and destroyed.

The other flock of sheep is owned by Larry and Linda Faillace of Warren, Vt.

All of the sheep are related and imported from Belgium, which is what triggered the concern on the part of the federal government.

The Agriculture Department says the sheep could have been exposed to mad cow disease by means of contaminated feed before they were imported from Europe in 1996.

The USDA also says four of Freeman's sheep show signs of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy.

The Faillaces have been waging a legal battle to stop the feds from seizing their flock and are currently appealing the government's victory last month in federal court.

The USDA's Curlett says the Faillaces' 140 sheep will also be seized and they will be notified the night before, as was Freeman.

Freeman's flock is being taken to federal laboratories in Iowa for scientists there to take samples from their brains to study. The sheep will be taken to the National Sciences Veterinary Services Laboratory. They will eventually be slaughtered.

"We intend to collect the sheep," said Curlett. "We are very grateful for the owner's cooperation."

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