‘Now is not the time to take our foot off the gas,’ says Alberta’s chief veterinarian of BSE surveillance
RED DEER — The latest discovery of a BSE-infected animal in Alberta should not spell the end of testing.
In fact, the opposite should happen, Gerald Hauer, Alberta’s chief veterinarian, told the Alberta Beef Industry Conference, which was held in Red Deer Feb. 18-20.
“Now is not the time to take our foot off the gas,” he said.
“This is the only tool we have to demonstrate BSE is under effective control and show BSE exposure in the cattle herd is negligible.”
Surveillance numbers have been slipping since 2011, and the discovery of a new case earlier this month has raised questions about how an animal that was born two years after stricter controls on feed ingredients were put in place in 2007could develop the disease.
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Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials said the situation is not unique to Canada because many other countries with strict feed restrictions have experienced a small number of BSE cases of animals born after the ban.
Hauer said BSE surveillance does not prevent it from spreading.
The animal health system is designed to control it and keep it out of the beef supply, where it could potentially infect people who eat certain types of beef contaminated with the disease-causing prions.
The international reaction has been much calmer since the first case was discovered in May 2003.
“We have a much better system in place and we have people around the world who understand our system and they are much more confident we have BSE under control,” Hauer said.
“Back in 2003, that wasn’t the case.”
Surveillance is run differently across the country, but the overall goal is to test a certain number of animals that are at the greatest risk to be infected.
Testing is directed at animals older than 30 months that are down, distressed, diseased or dead. Animals may be checked at abattoirs.
The most recent case was in a downer cow born March 2009 from a farm near Spruce Grove, Alta.
A veterinarian was called to the farm, where the cow was euthanized Feb. 4. Testing in Edmonton and follow up work at the CFIA laboratory in Lethbridge confirmed Feb. 11 that it was classical BSE. Further samples were collected for research, and the carcass was destroyed.
“Until we know we have an actual case of BSE, we try to do this quite quietly,” Craig Price, the CIFA regional chief inspector whose staff is leading the investigation, told the beef conference.
“The news of BSE can be quite disastrous to your industry so we don’t want false news getting out there until we are sure of what we are dealing with.”
The cow was identified with an ear tattoo and producer records were used to locate the birth farm Feb. 17.
Investigators are now looking for equivalent risk animals, which are those born on the same farm within one year of the date of birth of the cow because they likely ate the same feed.
The team is also tracking the progeny of that animal because there is a rare possibility it may pass from mother to calf, said Price.
They will also inspect feed mills to see how products were manufactured since 2007.
Body parts such as brains, glands, intestines and nerve tissue from animals older than 30 months had been banned from the human food chain, livestock feed supply, pet food and fertilizer by that time.
It is believed the rogue proteins responsible for the brain wasting disease are harboured in these tissues, called specified risk materials.
Investigators will also find out where feed was stored on the farm. Infectious prions can remain active in old, stored feed.
Canada is considered to have controlled risk status, but other countries make their own decisions about trade.
South Korea stopped trade Feb. 14 because it had an agreement to halt trade and wait for further information if a case was found. Indonesia has partially closed the market and is not accepting bone meal as of Feb. 18.
The case has been reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) in line with Canada’s international obligations.
Canada had hoped to change its controlled risk status to negligible status later this year. The application is now postponed until 2020.
The China Times reported Feb. 22 that Taiwan has banned Canadian beef imports, following similar actions by Belarus, Indonesia, Peru and South Korea.
