The U.S. government on Sunday said it expanded a recall of beef to a total of eight states and the territory of Guam as a precaution after the discovery of one case of mad cow disease.

Beef recalls already were underway in Washington state, Oregon, California and Nevada. Kenneth Petersen, an official with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (news - web sites)'s food Safety Inspection ServICE, told reporters that recalls have been expanded to Alaska, Montana, Hawaii, Idaho and Guam.

Stores in these states could have been sold beef from one of the animals slaughtered on Dec. 9 at a Washington state facility. That plant had the confirmed case of mad cow disease that was announced on Dec. 23