Hughes and his team had prevented a health disaster. They recovered enough of the sick cow to stop an outbreak of mad cow disease. It had taken the team more than a month. "This wasn’t exactly like finding a needle in a haystack, but it was pretty close," he says. Between February 2004 and February 2007, two more cows in the U. S. tested positive for mad cow disease. In both cases, their meat products were recovered before anyone got sick. But the thought of a mad cow epidemic still keeps Hughes awake some nights. The author most likely uses the tone in the passage to reinforce the point that the US is now free from mad cow disease. Hughes and his team are very accomplished. another mad cow disease outbreak is possible. Hughes dreams of fighting epidemics with his team.