US can block mad cow testing

I almost missed this. An appeals court ruling coming out right before the holiday weekend. AP had the story but I didn't notice it on Friday.

The Bush administration can prohibit meat packers from testing their animals for mad cow disease, a federal appeals court said Friday.

A federal judge ruled last year that Creekstone must be allowed to conduct the test because the Agriculture Department can only regulate disease "treatment." Since there is no cure for mad cow disease and the test is performed on dead animals, the judge ruled, the test is not a treatment.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned that ruling, saying diagnosis can be considered part of treatment.