A different strain of BSE has been found in Canada’s sixth case of the disease diagnosed in early July.
Of the 200,000 confirmed BSE cases found worldwide, this strain has only shown up in about 100 animals in the United States, Italy, France and Germany, said Cornelius Kiley of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
The strain appears in cattle of advanced age. The two reported cases in the U.S. appeared in downer cows more than 10 years old. The Canadian case was thought to be about 17 years old based on dentition, as well as the producer’s records and memory.
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“As we are learning more about BSE all the time, not just in Canada but around the world, we know there is more than one strain,” Kiley said.
There are various strains of this prion disease found in the family of transmissible spongiform encephalpathies including BSE and scrapie.
“Over time we are getting better at looking at particular molecular traits at the microscopic level and looking at specific diagnostic characteristics of different strains. Testing is getting better all the time,” he said.
The case was confirmed in the National Reference Laboratory in Winnipeg, which uses specific diagnostic techniques to better characterize different strains.
The agency is assuming the cow probably picked up the infection in feed consumed in 1989 or 1990.
The pregnant Charolais-cross cow came from a Manitoba herd of about 125 cows and was euthanized on the farm June 15. The diagnosis was confirmed July 15.
The investigation continues into a seventh case in a four-year-old Jersey from Alberta.
