Canada’s latest case of BSE, in a Holstein dairy cow from British Columbia April 16, has been linked through feed to a previous BSE case in Alberta.
“As we found in the past as we do these investigations, especially on the feed side, there are some common companies that show up,” said Gary Little, a senior staff veterinarian with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
“In the first three cases we tended to see a link with a particular renderer and a particular time frame in which meat and bone meal was delivered to a number of mills. Now, we’re seeing … some common elements associated with the January BSE case we found in Alberta and the April BSE case we found in B.C.,” said Little.
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As part of its investigation into the case, the agency examined the feed that the affected animal would have likely been exposed to early in its life, when cattle are most susceptible to BSE.
Investigators identified a feed ingredient supplier common to Canada’s fourth BSE animal, confirmed Jan. 22, 2006. This potential link suggests that all of Canada’s BSE cases fall within the same geographic cluster.
A specific source of infection was not found, but investigators believe that vehicles and equipment used to ship and receive a variety of ingredients likely contained contaminated cattle feed with the BSE agent.
“There are relatively few, a handful of rendering companies, that produce meat and bone meal. If you’re a feed mill in Western Canada, or northern Alberta, and are using meat and bone meal in any rations, there’s a pretty good chance it would come from one of a small, finite number of rendering companies. These are the kinds of connections we’re starting to see,” said Little.
During the investigation CFIA officials identified 148 animals, including the affected animal’s herd mates and recent offspring. From this group, 22 live animals were located and all tested negative for BSE.
One additional animal, which is pregnant, has been placed under quarantine and will be tested once it has calved. Of the remaining animals investigated, 77 had died or been slaughtered, 15 were exported to the United States and 33 were untraceable.
Because BSE investigations typically involve older animals, it is common to not know the fate for some herd mates, said CFIA in the June 16 report.
“It would be rare for us to find additional cases, but we know those animals are considered to be of equivalent risk. Due diligence requires we remove those from the system when we identify them,” said Little.
