There are still too many unanswered questions to know if a possible case of BSE in an American beef animal will have an effect on Canadian beef producers, say Canadian cattle officials.
“According to science, it shouldn’t be an issue,” said Brian Ross, president of the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association.
But science has played little role in the decision to close or reopen markets to Canadian beef and cattle around the world since the discovery of BSE in an Alberta cow in May 2003.
“That’s the scary part,” said Ross.
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On June 10, U.S. agriculture secretary Mike Johanns announced a second American cow may have had BSE. Little has been said about the animal, where it was slaughtered or if there is a connection to Canada as was found with the first U.S. case in a dairy cow.
On June 13 United States Department of Agriculture officials announced the cow was born before the 1997 feed ban on feeding ruminant material to ruminants.
In November 2004, the downer animal tested inconclusive for BSE in two rapid, preliminary tests, known as ELISA.
Four days later, the suspect animal tested negative for BSE in an immunohistochemistry test, or IHC, considered the gold standard for BSE testing, in Ames, Iowa.
At the urging of consumer groups, the USDA’s inspector general, an investigative arm of the department, recommended retesting the same animal with the Western blot test, widely used in Europe and Japan. Canada uses the Western blot test at the initial screening level.
On June 10 the Western blot test returned a “weak positive” for BSE in the animal. Two other animals retested at the same time were confirmed as negative.
Because so little of the animal’s brain remains in storage, USDA officials are developing a plan for testing, including sending a sample to the internationally known animal disease laboratory in Weybridge, England. Results should be known in about two weeks.
Canadian Cattleman’s Association president Stan Eby said the possible discovery of an American BSE case should not affect trade and may be a boost for Canada’s argument that the Canada-United States border should reopen.
“We actually feel it will further our case for an open border and a North American industry and it will undermine the
R-CALF case,” he said. “I don’t see a negative side to this for us.”
Of course, any indication that the animal was originally from the Canadian herd would be a setback, “but there has been no indication of that so far.”
Eby also said the CCA welcomes the announcement that the U.S. inspector general will conduct an audit of the effectiveness of the American BSE surveillance and testing system.
Many Canadian commentators, including some parliamentarians, have questioned the credibility of the American system.
Ross said the latest possible case of BSE has some producers thinking the Americans may finally get what’s owed to them.
“Definitely there’s some producers out there that feel the U.S. has turned into a real competitor instead of a partner, and they’re kind of smiling thinking they’ve had this coming for some time.
“I can understand that. That kind of thinking comes with all the frustration that Canadian producers have been putting up with for the past couple of years.
“In the long run I don’t think it’s good for Canada either. There may be some short-term satisfaction but long term I don’t think it’s positive,” said Ross.
