Correction: Twenty-eight offspring of water buffalo imported to Canada
from Denmark did not test negative for bovine spongiform encephalopathy
as was reported in a story on page 72 of the Sept. 19 issue.
The animals were declared BSE-free after their parents were slaughtered
and tested free of the disease.
An Alberta elk herd is under quarantine for tuberculosis until a second
test can prove an animal reacted falsely to a skin test, says the chief
veterinarian for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
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“We always have a number of herds under quarantine. It doesn’t mean
they’re infected, but we always use the cautious approach,” said George
Luterbach of Winnipeg.
“There is always some percentage that have a reaction to the skin
test.”
A skin test is used to check for bovine tuberculosis in elk. If the
test comes back positive, the herd is placed under quarantine for 60
days until a second different test is done.
If the second test is suspicious, the animal is killed and a definitive
tuberculosis test is done.
There have been no cases of tuberculosis in farmed deer and elk in
Western Canada since the early 1990s, when several elk herds were
destroyed. A few herds in Quebec and Ontario have had confirmed cases
of TB.
“In Western Canada we are blessed,” said Luterbach. “Hopefully the
findings will check out to be a bit of a false alarm.”
