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Nine Canadian farms quarantined
Peggy Steward
Capital Press Staff Writer
Nine Saskatchewan farms have been quarantined after receiving shipments of tainted feed from a Saskatoon feed mill, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said today.
The feed included meat and bone meal, banned since 1997 as part of safeguards to protect against the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE.
Seven of the farms are located in the Saskatoon area, while two are in the Swift Current area in the southwest part of the province, Dr. George Luterbach, the chief veterinarian for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency , said in a conference call with reporters.
Two of the farms are dairies, two are deer farms and five are beef cattle ranches, Luterbach said. About 8,000 animals were on the quarantined farms.
The feed mill purchased feather meal, a poultry product that is allowed in cattle feed, but a mix-up at the supplier resulted in meat and bone meal being provided, Luterbach said. The feed mill notified the Canadian Food Inspection Agency as soon as the mix-up was discovered.
The agency moved to recall the tainted feed and investigated all farms that received it, Luterbach said. They discovered nine farms that unknowingly fed the feed and placed them under quarantine. Animals exposed to the feed have been identified and placed under control and restricted to the farms while a risk assessment is conducted.
The tainted feed has been recovered and feed bins and storage units have been cleaned, he said.
He said it was premature to speculate if animals that received the feed would be slaughtered. The risk assessment will determine the age of the animals, the amounts of feed they may have consumed and the source of the meat and bone meal, he said.
It was unclear how long the quarantine will be in place.
"The animals are in a holding pattern until we complete the investigation," Luterbach said.
Luterbach said the feed mill and farms cooperated with Canadian Food Inspection Agency. He characterized the mix-up as a "mistake." He said the farmers and mill operators did nothing wrong.
The announcement came less than a month after Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed a new BSE case on Feb. 9 in a mature bull, likely born after the feed ban was implemented, in Alberta.
It was the 10th confirmed case of BSE to have originated in Canada, including a Canadian-born cow at a Mabton, Wash., dairy that tested positive in December 2003. The Mabton case resulted in the loss of U.S. export markets and huge economic losses to the U.S. beef industry.
The quarantine announcement also came just days after a U.S. cattle organization called for U.S Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns to extend a public comment period on a proposed rule that would allow Canadian cattle over 30 months of age into the United States. The deadline for comments is March 12.
R-CALF USA said the report of the February BSE case, if it was born after the feed ban, raises questions about the proposed rule.
The United States banned live cattle imports from Canada in May 2003, with Canada's first confirmed BSE case. The border was later reopened to beef with high-risk materials removed. In July 2005, live Canadian cattle were allowed into the United States, as long as they were under 30 months of age and were going directly to a feedlot or directly to slaughter.
The proposed rule would allow cattle born after March 1999 to be imported from Canada for any purpose. The USDA said that date provided 18 months for the 1997 feed bans to be fully implemented.
Comment on this article
Nine Canadian farms quarantined
Peggy Steward
Capital Press Staff Writer
Nine Saskatchewan farms have been quarantined after receiving shipments of tainted feed from a Saskatoon feed mill, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said today.
The feed included meat and bone meal, banned since 1997 as part of safeguards to protect against the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE.
Seven of the farms are located in the Saskatoon area, while two are in the Swift Current area in the southwest part of the province, Dr. George Luterbach, the chief veterinarian for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency , said in a conference call with reporters.
Two of the farms are dairies, two are deer farms and five are beef cattle ranches, Luterbach said. About 8,000 animals were on the quarantined farms.
The feed mill purchased feather meal, a poultry product that is allowed in cattle feed, but a mix-up at the supplier resulted in meat and bone meal being provided, Luterbach said. The feed mill notified the Canadian Food Inspection Agency as soon as the mix-up was discovered.
The agency moved to recall the tainted feed and investigated all farms that received it, Luterbach said. They discovered nine farms that unknowingly fed the feed and placed them under quarantine. Animals exposed to the feed have been identified and placed under control and restricted to the farms while a risk assessment is conducted.
The tainted feed has been recovered and feed bins and storage units have been cleaned, he said.
He said it was premature to speculate if animals that received the feed would be slaughtered. The risk assessment will determine the age of the animals, the amounts of feed they may have consumed and the source of the meat and bone meal, he said.
It was unclear how long the quarantine will be in place.
"The animals are in a holding pattern until we complete the investigation," Luterbach said.
Luterbach said the feed mill and farms cooperated with Canadian Food Inspection Agency. He characterized the mix-up as a "mistake." He said the farmers and mill operators did nothing wrong.
The announcement came less than a month after Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed a new BSE case on Feb. 9 in a mature bull, likely born after the feed ban was implemented, in Alberta.
It was the 10th confirmed case of BSE to have originated in Canada, including a Canadian-born cow at a Mabton, Wash., dairy that tested positive in December 2003. The Mabton case resulted in the loss of U.S. export markets and huge economic losses to the U.S. beef industry.
The quarantine announcement also came just days after a U.S. cattle organization called for U.S Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns to extend a public comment period on a proposed rule that would allow Canadian cattle over 30 months of age into the United States. The deadline for comments is March 12.
R-CALF USA said the report of the February BSE case, if it was born after the feed ban, raises questions about the proposed rule.
The United States banned live cattle imports from Canada in May 2003, with Canada's first confirmed BSE case. The border was later reopened to beef with high-risk materials removed. In July 2005, live Canadian cattle were allowed into the United States, as long as they were under 30 months of age and were going directly to a feedlot or directly to slaughter.
The proposed rule would allow cattle born after March 1999 to be imported from Canada for any purpose. The USDA said that date provided 18 months for the 1997 feed bans to be fully implemented.