Mexico Closes Its Border To Canada's Cattle

Posted on August 22, 2008 by Mad Cow

Today's Star Phoenix reports this:

Mexico will ban cattle from Alberta from crossing its border until officials find out more about what Canada is doing to prevent mad cow disease, a Canadian industry official said Thursday.

The move comes after Canada found its 14th case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, in a six-year-old cow last week in Alberta, the largest cattle-producing province.

Mexico is not a major market for Canadian breeding stock, but Canadian producers are disappointed about the ban, which Alberta cattle producer Travis Toews said is not consistent with international guidelines for trade with countries that have a controlled risk for the disease

More here.

 

Tags:

Canada Reports 14th Case of Mad Cow Disease

Posted on August 16, 2008 by Mad Cow

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has confirmed bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a six-year-old beef cow from Alberta. No part of the animal’s carcass entered the human food or animal feed systems.

It is the 14th case of BSE or Mad Cow Disease in Canada.

The animal’s birth farm has been identified, and an investigation is underway. The CFIA is tracing the animal's herdmates at the time of birth and examining possible sources of infection. The age and location of the infected animal are consistent with previous cases detected in Canada.

Two weeks ago we reported on the investigative findings into Canada's 12th Mad Cow.   See Canada links 12th case of mad cow to infected feed.  We have not heard any findings on the 13th Mad Cow discovered in June.

The 14th case was detected through Canada's  BSE surveillance program, which has been highly successful in demonstrating the low level of BSE in Canada. The program continues to play an important role in Canada’s strategy to manage BSE.

Canada remains a Controlled Risk country for BSE, as recognized by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). Accordingly, this case should not affect exports of Canadian cattle or beef.

 


Tags:

Mad Cow Restrictions Lead To Nordic Sperm Shortage In U.S.

Posted on August 13, 2008 by Mad Cow

About 100,000 South Koreans hit the bricks almost every night for two months because, they claimed, U.S. beef imports came with too great a risk for Mad Cow disease.  

Now, however, women in the market for Nordic sperm claim that restrictions to protect Americans from the human variety of Mad Cow are going too far.

The Washington Post yesterday reported on the restrictions health officials have instituted to protect Americans against the human form of mad cow disease. U.S. import restrictions barring sperm banks from importing from Europe for fear it might spread the brain-ravaging pathogen that causes Mad Cow disease.

The Nordic donors were popular because of their blue eyes and blond hair, and their tendency to be tall and have advanced degrees.  And sperm from those donors is now running out in the U.S., sending prices up and women trekking to Europe.

The Washington Post reported:

The restrictions on sperm from Europe were among the steps the U.S. government took in the wake of the mad cow outbreak in Europe in the late 1990s. In rare cases, people who eat meat from infected animals develop the fatal, untreatable illness called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The ailment is caused by an infectious mutant protein that slowly eats away brain tissue. Some people have been infected through contaminated surgical equipment and transplanted tissue, such as corneas, but there are no known cases of infection from sperm.

Someone should let South Korea know how careful we are being over here.  Check out the Wapo story here.

Tags:

Dallas City Packing Failed To Remove Tonsils In Cowheads: FSIS Forces Recall

Posted on August 7, 2008 by Mad Cow
Just under one million pounds of cattle heads produced over the past 18 months by Dallas-based Dallas City Packing Inc. are being recalled because tonsils were not completely removed.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service, 941,271 pounds of cattle heads produced as long ago as Feb. 5, 2007 to as recently as Aug. 5, 2008 are being recalled for not being compliant with regulations that require the removal of tonsils from cattle of all ages.

Tonsils are considered a specified risk material (SRM) and must be removed from cattle of all ages in accordance with FSIS regulations. SRMs are tissues that are known to contain the infective agent in cattle infected with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), as well as materials that are closely associated with these potentially infective tissues. Therefore, FSIS prohibits SRMs from use as human food to minimize potential human exposure to the BSE agent.

The cattle heads were primarily distributed to retail establishments in Texas as well as distribution centers in California, Colorado, Louisiana, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Texas.

Products subject to recall include:

  • Various weight boxes of “2-BEEF HEAD.” Each shipping package bears the establishment number “EST. 156” inside the USDA mark of inspection, as well as a packaging date between “2 05 7” and
  • “8 05 8” stamped on the side of the box.
  • Various weight boxes of “3-BEEF HEAD.” Each shipping package bears the establishment number “EST. 156” inside the USDA mark of inspection, as well as a packaging date between “2 05 7” and
  • “8 05 8” stamped on the side of the box.

Go here for the FSIS press release.



Tags:

Canada links 12th case of mad cow to infected feed

Posted on August 3, 2008 by Mad Cow
The six-year old Alberta dairy cow found to be suffering from bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in February was the victim of infected feed, according to the official investigation.

It was Canada's 12th case of mad cow disease since 2003 and infected feed has been blamed for all previous cases as well.

"It is reasonable to presume that this animal was exposed to feed containing a low level of infectivity during its first year of life," the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in a statement.

The CFIA brought in strict feed rules last year which it said should help eliminate the disease nationally within a decade. It says that until then, a handful of new cases are likely to appear.

Go here for more.

 


Tags: