Consumer and cattle-industry groups are cautioning against public alarm as federal scientists look into a possible new case of mad cow disease.

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The Agriculture Department says additional checks are needed on a cow after an initial screening proved inconclusive. Results will be known within seven days.

No part of the animal entered the food or feed chain.

Since the nation's first positive case of mad cow disease -- or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) -- was confirmed last December, this is the third time a test has come back inconclusive on a cow. The previous two cases turned out to be negative in the end.

A Consumer Federation of America official urges consumers to stay calm while more testing is conducted.

The president of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association said it can't be assumed the unconfirmed test "represents a positive case."

Many Asian countries closed their borders to U.S. beef after last year's mad cow disease discovery, but recently have begun to consider reopening the markets, reported television station KETV in Omaha, Neb.

Nebraska cattle producers are confident this new case won't interrupt the Asian move.

"If there is any BSE out there, we are capable of finding it -- isolating it -- making sure it doesn't get into the food chain," said Michael Kelsey, with the Nebraska Cattlemen's Association. "I think this can be a confidence builder for the Japanese. Our system worked."

Thanks in large part to low-carbohydrate diets, the beef industry has never been hotter. Consumption is rising, with beef sales hauling in $40 billion a year in business.

"Consumer confidence in our product has increased," Kelsey said.

But not all cattle producers are feeling as confident.

For all Bill Couser knows, the affected cattle may be hundreds or even thousands of miles away. Although Couser, of Nevada, Iowa, is far removed from the scare, it very much affects him.

"The effect that can have on an agricultural commodity like the beef industry, to me it gets a little frustrating," Couser said. "When I heard the news ... it just makes us all a little edgy for a minute, but again, we have to go back to science-based evidence and testing and trust the system."

It's a system that for cattle producers is a blessing and a curse. The system is designed to identify and quickly isolate mad cow disease. But even one suspected or confirmed case can damage an entire industry, reported KCCI-TV in Des Moines, Iowa.

"The cattle producers will be very concerned because whether it's fact or fiction, whether it's truth or not, it most likely will affect cattle markets," said Nancy Degner, with the Iowa Beef Industry Council. "That's very disruptive to cattle producers who make their livelihood from selling cattle."

Regardless of how this mad cow scare turns out, cattle producers fully expect to take a short-term hit. But they also expect to be back again in the long-term.

"I mean, we have the best beef in the world," Couser said.

The Iowa Beef Industry Council stresses that tissues known to carry the mad cow disease are generally in the brain and the spine, and in the United States, those parts are kept away from the food supply.