STERLING, Va. — Authorities examining leftover baggage at Washington Dulles International Airport recently found a pair of cow dung cakes in a suitcase that had been left behind, officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Monday.
The cakes were found in unclaimed luggage from an Air India flight that cleared CBP’s inspection station on April 4, officials said. They have since been destroyed.
Officials noted that cow dung from India is prohibited in the U.S. due to the potential of importing foot and mouth disease. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the disease can spread widely and quickly, causing “significant economic losses to livestock populations.”
“A single detection of FMD will likely stop international livestock trade completely until authorities can eradicate the disease threat,” according to CBP. “The United States has been FMD free since 1929.”
In some parts of the world, cow dung is used as an energy and cooking source, CBP officials said. In Hinduism, cows are considered sacred, and products like cow dung, cow milk and cow urine are believed to have healing properties, NPR reported.
Last year, agricultural specialists with CBP nationwide seized about 3,100 prohibited plant, meat, animal byproducts and soil on an average day, officials said.
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