A six-year-old crossbred cow from Alberta is Canada’s fourth domestic case of BSE.
A private veterinarian collected the sample from the infected Hereford-Holstein cross cow at a farm in the same region of central Alberta as previous cases were discovered.
“This case of course was unwelcome but it is not unexpected. Age, geographic location are consistent with Canada’s three previous BSE cases,” said Canadian Food Inspection Agency chief veterinarian Brian Evans at a Jan. 23 news conference in Edmonton.
The animal never left the farm and the carcass has been retained by the CFIA.
Read Also
Petition launched over grazing lease controversy
Battle continues between the need for generation of tax revenue from irrigation and the preservation of native grasslands in southern Alberta rural municipality.
The cow was showing neurological signs of distress and was checked for a neck injury.
A brain sample was collected Jan. 16 and the CFIA national reference laboratory in Winnipeg confirmed the positive diagnosis on Jan. 22.
CFIA officials did not identify the producer but said it is a 400 head dairy herd. The cow had a calf in 2005 that is still on the farm and the investigation is also looking for the 2004 calf, said Evans.
Investigators are focusing on finding the last two offspring and any herdmates of this animal that were born 12 months before and 12 months after.
So far, 25 head have been assembled and sent for euthanization and testing at a CFIA Lethbridge facility, said Gerald Ollis, Alberta’s chief veterinarian.
Evans said the farm’s herd and feed records are being examined. The farm did not mix its own feed and did not have other species of livestock.
At 69 months of age, the cow was born after the 1997 feed ban prohibiting rendered ruminant meat and bone meal in cattle feed.
“Very small amounts of feed purchased before a feed ban can remain or be retained on farms and lead to infection many years later,” Evans said.
An infective dose is as small as one-thousandth of a gram and could
remain viable in a feed trough for years.
Officials said it is premature to predict how Canada’s trading partners may react at this time. All were informed.
Japan said it had just confirmed its 22nd domestic BSE case the same weekend.
United States agriculture secretary Mike Johanns said this situation should not change trade patterns.
“I anticipate no change in the status of beef or live cattle imports to the U.S. from Canada under our established agreement. As I’ve said many times, our beef trade decisions follow internationally accepted guidelines that are based in science,” he said Jan. 23.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture team will work with Canada as the investigation continues.
The U.S. rule allowing imports of Canadian beef and young animals is based on the older rule of minimal risk, meaning Canada could have up to 12 cases per year as long as control on the feed ban and specified risk material removal measures are followed.
Three revised levels of BSE risk exist under international rules including negligible, controlled or undetermined risk.
Canada expects to move into the controlled risk category at the end of this year based on its surveillance efforts. Since 2003, Canada has tested more than 80,000 head.
“The international standards are shifting and they don’t look at the prevalence and incidence rates the way they did before,” Evans said.
Cochrane area rancher Erik Butters, vice-chair of Alberta Beef Producers, said this latest announcement should not affect trade with the U.S. or Japan.
Japan suspended trade with the U.S. because some specified risk materials were found in a beef shipment in mid January. The plant shipping the beef lost its export status and the Americans are investigating further.
Canada was not affected in this closure and Butters does not anticipate other action with this latest announcement.
The U.S. is writing a rule to allow imports of cattle older than 30 months and beef, as well as breeding stock. Canadian producers hope this does not stall its implementation expected by mid-year.
“It could just as easily have happened on their side of the border,” Butters said.
Based on scientific evidence and management changes in Canada and the U.S. the border should open wider this year.
“If the Americans want to re-enter and maintain access to some international marketplaces, bearing in mind that they are also in the same category as we are, why would they want to make a big deal out of this?”
