13th case of mad cow disease found in Canada
Canwest News Service
OTTAWA - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed the 13th case of mad cow disease in Canada, but the agency says the case poses no risk to human or animal health.
Dr. George Luterbach, a senior veterinarian with CFIA, said Monday the disease was found in a cow that died on a farm in western British Columbia. However, the exact farm where the animal was from has not been determined.
"At this point in time we're in the early stages of the investigation," said Luterbach. "We have no other suspect animals."
He said that to date, CFIA has not found more than one case on an individual farm.
"The birth farm is often not the farm in which the animal was found to have died," he added.
The agency said the animal was detected as part of its ongoing surveillance program for mad cow disease - or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). It said no part of the animal entered the human or animal food chain.
CFIA did not give the age of the animal in the latest case.
Canada discovered its first case of BSE in 2003.
Luterbach said the birth farm needs to be located in order to focus in on animals born during the same time period and that have consumed the same feed.
"At this point in time, a birth farm has not been confirmed."
He said until the birth farm is located, CFIA cannot determine if or how many other animals have been affected.
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