Prophecy, Drought, Earthquakes, Famine, Pestilence, War, and Strange Weather.

[Soldier4Christ]

Strong underwater earthquake near Fiji



SYDNEY: A strong earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 6.1 struck on Friday near the Pacific island of Fiji, Australian officials said. 

Geoscience Australia said the quake hit about 300 kilometres  northeast of the Fijian capital Suva, Geoscience Australia said.   

The US Geological Survey earlier described the epicenter of the quake, which occurred at 0558 GMT, as 563 kilometres (350 miles) northwest of the Tongan capital Nuku'alofa.   

No reports of casualties or damage were immediately available but Spiro Spiliopoulos, a seismologist with Geoscience Australia, said the underwater earthquake was not considered dangerous.   

"It's too deep and too small to cause a tsunami," he told AFP.  "It's a very active area. We see these quite often."   

A second quake with an estimated magnitude of 5.6 struck 305 kilometres west of the Tongan town of Neiafu at 1040 GMT on Friday, the US Geological Survey said later.   

Spiliopoulos, who was speaking before the second quake, said earthquakes were a common occurrence in what is known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.

[Soldier4Christ]

Rumblings and bangs as Highland earthquake hits

AN earthquake measuring 3.1 on the Richter scale hit the west Highlands yesterday, resulting in loud bangs and making floors vibrate.
People in Gairloch, Achnasheen, Stromeferry and Ardaneaskan called the British Geological Survey (BGS) with reports of the tremor just after noon. One said "the whole house shook", and another added: "We thought the chimney had fallen down."
Olaf Preston, who lives in Lochcarron, said: "I was at a neighbour's having a cup of coffee when I heard an almighty bang. It almost sounded like an explosion."
Ewen Mackinnon, councillor for Lochcarron, said: "I did hear a rumbling when I was working at the computer about that time. But I didn't give it much thought, because we get a lot of low-flying jets around here and I assumed it must have been one of them.
"However, after hearing the news I realised it must have been the quake."
Roy Macintyre, his fellow councillor in Gairloch, said: "We were blissfully unaware of it. But we have a lady in here visiting from up at Flowerdale, and she definitely felt the floor vibrate. She thought it was an earthquake, but her husband was sure it was just a heavy lorry passing."
Near the epicentre on the Applecross peninsula, the quake went largely unnoticed. Judith Fish, owner of the Applecross Inn, said: "The earth certainly didn't move for us. We knew nothing at all about it."
It was the biggest quake felt in the Highlands since September 2004, when one felt on the island of Raasay reached 3.3 on the scale. According to the BGS, there are about eight events around this level in the UK each year.
In 2003, Aberfoyle was hit by at least three shocks in the early hours of a June morning, with each measuring three on the scale. The seismic activity had begun a week earlier.
Last Hogmanay, revellers were left shaken when an earthquake measuring 2.5 on the Richter scale hit parts of central Scotland less than two hours before midnight. Experts said the tremors were the largest in the area since 2003.

[Soldier4Christ]

Wildfire near Delta grows to 400 acres


A wildfire burning just south of Delta Junction had grown to 400 acres by late Thursday evening, according to the state's Division of Forestry.

Forestry officials learned of the fire after receiving a report of an explosion near a residence, said Daniel Newby, a logistics coordinator for Forestry in Delta. Newby suspected a propane tank may have caused the explosion, but said Forestry officials are still investigating the cause of the blaze.

Fire officials ordered four firefighter crews and two helicopters, and 10 fire engines had arrived by Thursday evening, Newby said.

The fire was reported early Thursday afternoon. It is 12 miles south of Delta Junction and less than a mile east of the Richardson Highway and a section of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.

By late evening, the blaze measured one mile in length from north to south, and one-quarter of a mile wide.

Firefighters dropped five loads of retardant, focusing on the eastern and western flanks, Newby said. Those flanks were "looking good" as of Thursday night, he said.

Fire crews had the wildfire 30 percent contained as of 11 p.m., but Newby worried that 30-mph winds forecast for today could push it farther north.

"That means there's potential for fire growth," Newby said. Bulldozer operators were preparing by clearing large fire breaks north of the fire's head, he said.

Approximately five homes are located in the area, he said.

"It has potential danger for residents near the fire," but as of Thursday night the blaze did not pose a threat immediate enough for Forestry to call for evacuations, Newby said.

The fire spread north during the afternoon, inching closer to Fort Greely's missile defense site and the oil pipeline's Pump Station No. 9, which lie a few miles south of the city of Delta Junction, Newby said.

The 16-person fire crews came from Delta, Selawik, Galena and Tok, he said.

[Soldier4Christ]

Southern Colorado Wildfire 75 Percent Contained

(AP) WALSENBURG, Colo. A wildfire in southern Colorado was 75 percent contained Thursday and crews expected to have it fully encircled later in the day, but residents of four homes were still awaiting word on when they could return.

Firefighters again reduced their estimate of the fire size, to 60 acres from earlier estimates of up to 120 acres. It was burning in pinon and conifer forests on private land in Huerfano County, about 120 miles south of Denver and 20 miles northwest of Walsenburg.

The fire began on Monday and was human-caused, though no specifics have been released.

About 60 firefighters, two engines, a helicopter and a bulldozer were on scene.

[Soldier4Christ]

 Rains aid firefighting crews against Northern Arizona blazes

HEBER — Wet weather helped crews battling a 2,000-acre wildfire near this Northern Arizona town Wednesday and Thursday, allowing them to focus on building and maintaining containment lines.
The lightning-caused fire was no longer threatening a large power line that feeds electricity to the Phoenix metropolitan area, authorities said.
Officials with the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest said crews were able to build a protective line around the high-voltage line.
The line was shut down for several hours Wednesday as a precaution, and power was re-routed to the Phoenix area by the Arizona Public Service and Salt River Project utility companies, said Kartha Ray, a fire information officer.
Additionally, fire officials were no longer worried about excessive smoke from the fire causing arcing in the power line, said Mary Johnson, a spokeswoman with the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest.
"It's going very well," she said.
The Potato Fire was 10 percent contained Thursday. Crews are estimating full containment by Saturday or Sunday, Johnson said.
About 150 firefighters were battling the blaze about 8 miles northwest of Heber.
Navajo capital fire 75% contained
WINDOW ROCK — Dozens of evacuees in Window Rock were allowed to return home Thursday as crews continued to battle a 1,655-acre wildfire on the outskirts of the Navajo Nation capital.
Thirty residents whose homes were near the fire spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights away from home. They were allowed to return Thursday, provided they spoke with officials about the danger in the area, including hot coals that may be smoldering near their property.
The fire ignited Tuesday afternoon and was burning piñon pine and juniper forest, said Selena Manychildren, a spokeswoman for the Navajo emergency services department.
It was 75 percent contained Thursday afternoon. Rain had lessened the fire's activity Thursday morning, and Manychildren said crews hoped to have the fire "completely out by Saturday or Sunday."
The cause of the fire remained under investigation, according to Manychildren.
She said 66 residents were evacuated and sent to a middle school Tuesday evening.
Those who lived about a half a mile outside the fire's perimeter were allowed to return home Wednesday morning. The rest were allowed to return Thursday.

[Soldier4Christ]

ARIZONA
    Fire nears homes,forces evacuations
    MAYER -- Residents of a rural Arizona community were ordered to evacuate yesterday as a wildfire threatened their homes, authorities said.
    The blaze, started by lightning early yesterday, had spread to about 125 acres by late morning and was within 2 miles of the Pine Flats community south of Mayer, officials said.
    The U.S. Forest Service ordered all residents out of the Pine Flats area, a wooded valley with about 20 homes.
    "The fire behavior is very extreme right now, and there is a lot of dry fuel up there," said Debbie Maneely, a spokeswoman for Prescott National Forest. More strikes were likely yesterday.

[Soldier4Christ]

Record meteorite hit Norway
As Wednesday morning dawned, northern Norway was hit with an impact comparable to the atomic bomb used on Hiroshima.

At around 2:05 a.m. on Wednesday, residents of the northern part of Troms and the western areas of Finnmark could clearly see a ball of fire taking several seconds to travel across the sky.

A few minutes later an impact could be heard and geophysics and seismology research foundation NORSAR registered a powerful sound and seismic disturbances at 02:13.25 a.m. at their station in Karasjok.

Farmer Peter Bruvold was out on his farm in Lyngseidet with a camera because his mare Virika was about to foal for the first time.

"I saw a brilliant flash of light in the sky, and this became a light with a tail of smoke," Bruvold told Aftenposten.no. He photographed the object and then continued to tend to his animals when he heard an enormous crash.

"I heard the bang seven minutes later. It sounded like when you set off a solid charge of dynamite a kilometer (0.62 miles) away," Bruvold said.

Astronomers were excited by the news.

"There were ground tremors, a house shook and a curtain was blown into the house," Norway's best known astronomer Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard told Aftenposten.no.

Røed Ødegaard said the meteorite was visible to an area of several hundred kilometers despite the brightness of the midnight sunlit summer sky. The meteorite hit a mountainside in Reisadalen in North Troms.

"This is simply exceptional. I cannot imagine that we have had such a powerful meteorite impact in Norway in modern times. If the meteorite was as large as it seems to have been, we can compare it to the Hiroshima bomb. Of course the meteorite is not radioactive, but in explosive force we may be able to compare it to the (atomic) bomb," Røed Ødegaard said.

The astronomer believes the meteorite was a giant rock and probably the largest known to have struck Norway.

"The record was the Alta meteorite that landed in 1904. That one was 90 kilos (198 lbs) but we think the meteorite that landed Wednesday was considerably larger," Røed Ødegaard said, and urged members of the public who saw the object or may have found remnants to contact the Institute of Astrophysics.

[Shammu]

Latest wildfire update across the state
Friday eveninging developments

Christopher Kline

Jun. 9, 2006 06:55 PM

Black Mountain Complex Fire

Location: Northern Arizona, between Kingman and Bullhead City

Size: 1,400 acres

Percent Contained: 0 percent

Cause: Under investigation

Potato Complex Fire

Location: Northern Arizona, in the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest near Heber

Size: 2,000 acres

Percent Contained: 30 percent

Cause: Lightning caused

The Bonita Fire

Location: Eastern Arizona, on Bryce Mountain in the southeast corner of the San Carlos Apache Reservation

Size: 2,000 acres

Percent Contained: 80 percent

Cause: Sparked by lightning

The Kinlichee Fire

Location: Northern Arizona, on the Navajo Nation Reservation

Size: 1,655 acres

Percent Contained: 90 percent

Fules: Pinyon pine and juniper

[Shammu]

First tropical depression forms in Caribbean

Saturday, June 10, 2006; Posted: 3:52 p.m. EDT (19:52 GMT)

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- A tropical depression that formed Saturday in the Caribbean Sea was the first of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, which scientists predict could produce up to 16 named storms, six of them major hurricanes.

The depression was expected to become the year's first named storm -- Alberto -- as it veers toward Florida but was not expected to become a hurricane.

"It will be relatively weak in terms of wind, but that doesn't mean it's going to be weak in terms of rainfall," senior hurricane specialist Stacy Stewart said.

Last year's hurricane season was the busiest and most destructive in recorded history. Hurricane Katrina alone devastated Louisiana and Mississippi and was blamed for more than 1,570 deaths in Louisiana alone.

The depression that formed Saturday, nine days after the official start of the season, had maximum sustained winds near 35 mph, just below the 39-mph threshold for a tropical storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.

At 2 p.m. ET, the poorly organized depression was centered in the Caribbean Sea about 45 miles west of Cabo San Antonio on the western tip of Cuba, forecasters said. It was moving north-northwest near 9 mph.

The hurricane center recommended tropical storm warnings for the Cuban provinces of Pinar Del Rio and the Isle of Youth.

Over the next three days, the system was expected to move through the Yucatan Channel into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, then toward Florida where it could make landfall Monday or Tuesday somewhere between South Florida and the western tip of the Panhandle, forecasters said.

State officials pleaded with residents to update their hurricane preparedness plans but most shrugged at the news that stormy weather was coming their way.

"The media overplays this, they get people very scared," said Tim Roberts, a Fort Lauderdale condo owner who was visiting Tallahassee. "Sure, when the time comes to be alarmed, yes, but don't make more out of it until it's time."

Mike Martino lost his Navarre Beach home twice in the past two hurricane seasons -- first to Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and never got to move into a new home built on the same lot because Hurricane Dennis wiped it out in 2005. Instead of rebuilding again, he moved to the mainland.

Martino, who rents kayaks, bikes and surfboards out of his store in Navarre Beach, worried that the weather would do more economic damage than property damage.

"I know that we have weather coming, so I can't have weekly rentals. It's all going to have to be done by the day," he said.

The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the busiest in 154 years of storm tracking, with records set for the number of named storms, 28, and hurricanes, 15. Forecasters used up their list of 21 proper names (beginning with Arlene and ending with Wilma) and had to use the Greek alphabet to name storms for the first time.

Meteorologists have said the Atlantic is not as warm as it was at this time in 2005, meaning potential storms would have less of the energy needed to develop into hurricanes.

Atlantic hurricane seasons were relatively mild from the 1970s through 1994. Since then, all but two years have been above normal. Experts say the ocean is in the midst of a 20-year-cycle that will continue to bring strong storms.

Between 1995 and 2005, the Atlantic season has averaged 15 named storms, just over eight named hurricanes and four major hurricanes, according to the hurricane center. From 1971 to 1994, there were an average of 8.5 named storms, five hurricanes and just more than one major hurricane. The Atlantic hurricane season ends November 30.

First tropical depression forms in Caribbean

[Soldier4Christ]

First tropical depression of 2006 heads for Fla.
Weather system expected to be first named storm of hurricane season

A tropical depression in the Caribbean headed toward Florida on Sunday and was expected to become the first named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season.

The depression formed Saturday, nine days after the official start of the season, but the poorly organized system was not expected to become a hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center.

“It will be relatively weak in terms of wind, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be weak in terms of rainfall,” senior hurricane specialist Stacy Stewart said.

The system, which had maximum sustained wind near 35 mph, would be named Alberto if it reaches the 39 mph threshold for a tropical storm.

At 5 a.m. EDT, the depression was centered over the Eastern Gulf of Mexico about 335 miles west southwest of Key West, Fla., and about 445 miles south southwest of Apalachicola, Fla., forecasters said. It was moving northwest near 9 mph.

The hurricane center recommended tropical storm warnings for the Cuban provinces of Pinar Del Rio and the Isle of Youth.

Florida landfall as early as Monday
Over the next two days, the system is expected to move through the Yucatan Channel into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, then toward Florida where it could make landfall Monday or Tuesday somewhere between South Florida and the western tip of the Panhandle, forecasters said.

Scientists predict the 2006 season could produce up to 16 named storms, six of them major hurricanes.

Last year’s hurricane season was the busiest and most destructive in recorded history. Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana and Mississippi and was blamed for more than 1,570 deaths in Louisiana alone.

The season was the busiest in 154 years of storm tracking, with records set for the number of named storms (28) and hurricanes (15). Forecasters used up their list of 21 proper names (beginning with Arlene and ending with Wilma) and had to use the Greek alphabet to name storms for the first time.

Meteorologists have said the Atlantic is not as warm as it was at this time in 2005, meaning potential storms would have less of the energy needed to develop into hurricanes.

[Soldier4Christ]

First tropical storm of 2006 season forms
Tropical Storm Alberto, in Gulf of Mexico, could hit Florida on Tuesday

Tropical Storm Alberto, the first named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, developed Sunday from a poorly organized tropical depression in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, forecasters said.

The storm had maximum sustained winds near 45 mph—up 10 mph from early in the morning—and was expected to strengthen, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Alberto was located about 400 miles west of Key West and about 445 miles south-southwest of Apalachicola, and moving northwest near 9 mph, forecasters said.

It was expected to veer toward central or northern Florida, where it could make landfall early Tuesday, forecasters said.  Boaters were warned to stay in port, as up to 8 inches of rain could fall over the Florida Keys and the state’s Gulf Coast before Alberto nears the peninsula, according to the hurricane center.

Florida landfall expected
Over the next two days, the system is expected to move through the Yucatan Channel into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, then toward Florida where it could make landfall Tuesday somewhere between South Florida and the western tip of the Panhandle, forecasters said.

Scientists predict the 2006 season could produce up to 16 named storms, six of them major hurricanes.

Last year’s hurricane season was the busiest and most destructive in recorded history. Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana and Mississippi and was blamed for more than 1,570 deaths in Louisiana alone.

The season was the busiest in 154 years of storm tracking, with records set for the number of named storms (28) and hurricanes (15). Forecasters used up their list of 21 proper names (beginning with Arlene and ending with Wilma) and had to use the Greek alphabet to name storms for the first time.

Meteorologists have said the Atlantic is not as warm as it was at this time in 2005, meaning potential storms would have less of the energy needed to develop into hurricanes.

[Shammu]

Tropical Storm Alberto Confirmed In Caribbean

POSTED: 7:45 am EDT June 11, 2006
UPDATED: 1:13 pm EDT June 11, 2006

MIAMI -- Tropical Storm Alberto, the first named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, developed Sunday from a poorly organized tropical depression in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and appeared likely to carry heavy rain to Florida, forecasters said.

By midday, the storm had maximum sustained wind near 45 mph, up 10 mph from early in the morning, the National Hurricane Center said.

It was expected to continue growing but without developing into a hurricane.

"The satellite presentation of the storm is not very impressive, so not much additional strengthening is anticipated," said hurricane specialist Richard Pasch.

At 11 a.m. EDT, Alberto was centered about 400 miles west of Key West and about 445 miles south-southwest of Apalachicola, forecasters said.

It was moving northwest at about 9 mph but was expected to turn toward central or northern Florida, where it could make landfall early Tuesday, forecasters said.

The tropical depression that produced Alberto formed Saturday, nine days after the official start of the hurricane season, in the northwest Caribbean, which can produce typically weak storms that follow a similar track this time of year, forecasters said.

"They can also meander in the Gulf for awhile, and we've seen some dissipate before reaching any land areas," Pasch said.

Forecasters said up to 30 inches of rain could fall over the western half of Cuba, creating a threat of flash floods and mudslides, and up to 8 inches could fall over the Florida Keys and the state's Gulf Coast.

Scientists predict the 2006 season could produce up to 16 named storms, six of them major hurricanes.

Last year's hurricane season was the busiest and most destructive on record. Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana and Mississippi and was blamed for more than 1,570 deaths in Louisiana alone.

The season was the busiest in 154 years of storm tracking, with records for the number of named storms (28) and hurricanes (15). Meteorologists used up their list of 21 proper names -- beginning with Arlene and ending with Wilma -- and had to use the Greek alphabet to name storms for the first time.

This year, however, meteorologists have said the Atlantic is not as warm as it was at this time in 2005, meaning potential storms would have less of the energy needed to develop into hurricanes.

Last year, the first named storm of the season was Tropical Storm Arlene, which formed June 9, 2005, and made landfall just west of Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle.

Tropical Storm Alberto Confirmed In Caribbean

[Shammu]

Peru villagers flee from Ubinas volcano

Sun Jun 11, 3:06 AM ET

LIMA, Peru - Increased activity by the Ubinas volcano in southern Peru prompted the evacuation of 408 villagers, officials said.

Seismic activity has been mounting since February at the volcano, about 470 miles southeast of the Peruvian capital of Lima. Ubinas erupted April 14, sending a column of ash some 2,600 feet into the air.

Tents, blankets and food were distributed to the 144 families who evacuated to a camp six miles from their village, Jose Acosta, a Civil Defense Institute official, said Saturday.

Another 150 families will be evacuated by Sunday, said Acosta, adding that the villagers will be allowed to return to their homes if the threat decreases.

Winds have carried smoke and volcanic ash into the neighboring highland region of Puno, where residents have complained of headaches and stomachaches, the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio reported.

Peru villagers flee from Ubinas volcano

[Shammu]

Volcano spews ash in central Philippines
Sat Jun 10, 2006 2:52am ET8

MANILA (Reuters) - A restive volcano in the central Philippines spewed a column of ash at least 1 km (0.6 mile) into the sky before dawn on Saturday, raising concern of an eruption in the days ahead.

There were two minor explosions of Bulusan volcano in the Bicol region, but there was no sign of laval flow, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in a statement.

Ernesto Corpuz, one of the institute's chief monitoring scientists, said Bulusan's activity had been increasing and more explosions and ash falls were likely in the coming days.

"Our monitoring indicates magma is rising to the surface," said Corpuz, referring to hot molten rock inside the volcano.

However, he told reporters that the institute could not predict when a major eruption would occur, and it was for now keeping its alert level at 2 on a scale from 1 to 5.

At level 3 an explosion is considered possible, at level 4 it is seen as likely and at level 5 an eruption has occurred with lava flows or ash columns reaching 6 km (3.75 miles).

Bulusan, one of the six most active volcanoes in the Philippines, has had five ash eruptions since March.

Officials have warned residents in three towns of Sorsogon province not to venture within 4 km (2.5 miles) of the 1,559-meter (5,246-foot) volcano because of the risk of sudden explosions.

Casiguran town, on Bulusan's northern slopes, was declared under a state of calamity on Friday after ash damaged houses, crops and fish ponds and forced schools to close.

Like neighboring Indonesia, the Philippines lies in an area of the Pacific basin vulnerable to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Mount Pinatubo, on Luzon island in the northern Philippines, erupted in 1991 after lying dormant for 600 years. That eruption buried dozens of villages under metric tonnes of mud and more than 800 people died, mostly from diseases in crowded evacuation camps.

Volcano spews ash in central Philippines

[Shammu]

U.S. mad cow cases are mysterious strain

By LIBBY QUAID, AP Food and Farm Writer Sun Jun 11, 12:04 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Two cases of mad cow disease in Texas and Alabama seem to have resulted from a mysterious strain that could appear spontaneously in cattle, researchers say.

Government officials are trying to play down differences between the two U.S. cases and the mad cow epidemic that has led to the slaughter of thousands of cattle in Britain since the 1980s.

It is precisely these differences that are complicating efforts to understand the brain-wasting disorder, known medically as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE for short.

"It's most important right now, till the science tells us otherwise, that we treat this as BSE regardless," the Agriculture Department's chief veterinarian, John Clifford, said in an interview.

The Texas and Alabama cases — confirmed last year and this one, respectively — are drawing international attention.

At a meeting in London last month, experts presented research on the U.S. cases and on similar ones in Europe.

These cows appear to have had an "atypical" strain that scientists are only now starting to identify. Such cases have been described in about a dozen cows in France, Italy and other European countries, as well as in Japan.

In the two U.S. cases, researchers did not detect the telltale spongy lesions caused by prions, the misfolded proteins that deposit plaque on the brain and kill brain cells. In addition, the prions in brain tissue samples from the Texas and Alabama cows seemed to be distributed differently from what would be expected to be found in cows with the classic form.

Laboratory studies on mice in France showed that both the classic and atypical strains could be spread from one animal to another. But scientists theorize the atypical strain might have infected cattle through an unusual way.

Mad cow disease is not transmitted from cow to cow like a cold or the flu. It is believed to spread through feed, when cows eat the contaminated tissue of other cattle. That happens when crushed cattle remains are added to feed as a protein source. This once-common practice ended in the United States in 1997.

Humans can get a related disease, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, in similar fashion — by eating meat contaminated with mad cow. Mad cow in humans afflicts younger people; the average age at death is 28 years.

A more common form of CJD — not linked to mad cow — can happen spontaneously and is reported in nearly 300 people in the U.S. each year. This form occurs mostly in older people; the average age at death is 68.

Some scientists are raising the possibility that the atypical strain also might happen spontaneously in cattle. The Texas and Alabama cows were older animals, as were some of the other animals in Europe with seemingly atypical cases.

Linda Detwiler, a former Agriculture Department veterinarian who consults for major food companies, cautioned against making that assumption. "I think it's kind of early to say that would be the case," Detwiler said.

Other theories, she said, suggest the atypical strain might come from a mutation of mad cow disease or even from a related disease in sheep.

Mad cow disease has turned up three times in the United States: in native-born animals in Texas and Alabama and in a Canadian import in Washington state.

In the Texas and Alabama cows, tests found patterns distinct from what turned up in an infected cow in Washington state and a cluster of Canadian cases, researchers say. The Washington and Canadian cases resemble the classic British cases.

No matter what the origins might be of an atypical strain, the government says there is no reason to change federal testing or measures that safeguard animals and people from the disease.

"We still feel confident in the safeguards that we have," Clifford said. "We have to base our assumptions on what is scientifically known and understood."

Meanwhile, mad cow research has been halted at the Agriculture Department's lab in Ames, Iowa, because of employee allegations that the lab improperly was disposing of animal waste.

The department asked a group of international experts to review the lab's disposal practices. The city of Ames also is investigating.

U.S. mad cow cases are mysterious strain