Wis. lab: Death of 200 cows traced to bad potatoes

A state lab says the 200 steers that died this month in Portage County were done in by tainted potatoes.

Peter Vanderloo, an associate director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, which is run on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says the cows tested positive for a toxin that's found in moldy sweet potatoes.

He said Friday the bad spuds were apparently mixed in with potato waste fed to the animals.

The cows died Jan. 14. Because of their symptoms, early indications suggested they died of pneumonia or another bovine virus. Vanderloo says tests found no evidence to support those theories.

Vanderloo says it's common practice to give animals food that can't be used for human consumption. He says there was no risk to human health.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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