Canada wraps BSE investigation
Friday, June 16, 2006, 4:14 PM
by John Perkins
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has finished its investigation of Canada's April 16, 2006 case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The 71 month old Holstein, born on a dairy farm in British Colombia, was connected to 148 other animals, either herd mates or recent offspring. There were 22 live cattle identified, none of which tested positive for BSE; an additional cow was found to be pregnant and will tested after it has calved. 77 died or have been slaughtered, 15 were exported to the United States and 33 were untraceable, primarily due to them being older animals.
The CFIA concluded that Canada's fifth BSE infection occurred early in life and while the definite source of BSE was not found, the CFIA stated that "investigators determined that vehicles and equipment used to ship and receive a variety of ingredients likely contaminated cattle feed with the BSE agent." According to the CFIA, this case and Canada's fourth case had a common feed ingredient supplier.
