Canada's 7th mad cow case said caused by feed
24.aug.06
Reuters
Marcy Nicholson
WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Canada's seventh mad cow case since 2003 most likely contracted the brain-wasting disease from contaminated feed, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said on Thursday.
The 50-month-old cow was born years after 1997, when Canada instituted a ban on protein from cattle and other ruminants, such as sheep and goats, in cattle feed. The ban aimed to prevent the disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, which is believed to be caused by contaminated feed.
The federal food safety agency confirmed the animal had mad cow disease in July, making it the youngest animal in Canada to test positive for the disease since the first native-born case was discovered in 2003.
The animal died on the Alberta farm where it was born, the federal food safety agency said in a release.
The investigation determined there were 172 birth and feed cohorts, animals born within 12 months of the affected cow, on the farm. Of these, 38 live animals were located on the farm and in other herds to which they had been sold. Most were euthanized and incinerated. Four animals have been quarantined to allow for calving or collection of genetic material.
Of the cohorts, 113 had died or were slaughtered and 13 are presumed to have died or been slaughtered. Inadequate records mean eight animals were untraceable, the CFIA said.
The announcement of the seventh case drew attention from the U.S. government, which participated in the ensuing investigation. As a result of the case, it halted a proposal to allow imports of older Canadian cattle, citing the need to know how the cow was exposed to infected material.
Canada currently exports cattle under 30 months and the beef that comes from them to the United States.
On Wednesday, the Canadian food safety agency confirmed an eighth mad cow case in a mature beef cow in Alberta.
The CFIA also recently concluded its investigation into Canada's sixth mad cow case since 2003, confirmed in a Manitoba cow earlier in July, but was unable to determine the animal's birth farm due to a lack of information on the cow's history.
The cross-bred beef cow was at least 16 years old when it died and was born when the inclusion of meat and bone meal in cattle feed was both accepted and legal, the agency has said.
The CFIA announced in June that it aims to eliminate mad cow disease within the next 10 years by banning specific cattle tissues capable of transmitting mad cow disease from all livestock feed and pet food.
