BSE CASE CONFIRMED IN ALBERTA

[flounder]

BSE CASE CONFIRMED IN ALBERTA

OTTAWA, December 18, 2007 - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has confirmed the diagnosis of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a 13-year-old beef cow from Alberta. The animal's carcass is under CFIA control, and no part of it entered the human food or animal feed systems.

Canada has a suite of robust BSE control measures exceeding the recommended international standards. This year, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) categorized Canada as a Controlled Risk country for BSE. This status acknowledges the effectiveness of Canada's surveillance, risk mitigation and eradication measures. This case will not affect Canada's risk status.

Canada has taken all necessary measures to achieve the eventual elimination of BSE from the national cattle herd. The enhanced feed ban, which came into effect on July 12, 2007, is designed to prevent more than 99 percent of potential BSE infectivity from entering the Canadian feed system. The feed ban prohibits cattle-derived materials with potential to harbour BSE infectivity, such as the brain and spinal cord, from being used in all animal feeds, pet foods and fertilizers.

The CFIA expects to detect a small number of cases over the next 10 years as Canada progresses towards its goal of eliminating the disease from the national cattle herd.

This detection confirms the ongoing high level of commitment and stewardship on the part of Canadian cattle producers to food safety and animal health. The Alberta animal was identified at the farm level by the national surveillance program, which has detected all BSE cases found in Canada. The program targets cattle most at risk and has tested about 190,000 animals since 2003. The surveillance results reflect an extremely low incidence of BSE in Canada.

The age of the infected animal falls within the age range of previous cases detected in Canada under the national BSE surveillance program. The animal was born before the implementation of Canada's feed ban in 1997.

An epidemiological investigation directed by international guidelines is underway to identify the animal's herdmates at the time of birth and the pathways by which it might have become infected. All findings will be publicly released once the investigation concludes.

- 30 -

For information:

Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Media relations: 613-228-6682

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/anima/heasan/disemala/bseesb/ab2007/11notavie.shtml


BSE BASE MAD COW TESTING TEXAS, USA, AND CANADA, A REVIEW OF SORTS


http://madcowtesting.blogspot.com/


MADCOW USDA the untold story

http://madcowusda.blogspot.com/


SCRAPIE USA

http://scrapie-usa.blogspot.com/


NOR-98 ATYPICAL SCRAPIE CASES USA

http://nor-98.blogspot.com/


CREUTZFELDT JAKOB DISEASE MAD COW BASE UPDATE USA

http://cjdmadcowbaseoct2007.blogspot.com/

Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy TME

http://transmissible-mink-encephalopathy.blogspot.com/

CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE

http://chronic-wasting-disease.blogspot.com/


Monitoring the occurrence of emerging forms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in
the United States

http://cjdusa.blogspot.com/


CJD QUESTIONNAIRE

http://cjdquestionnaire.blogspot.com/


TSS

 

[Mike]

How many does this make total?

 

[PORKER]

Maybe 12 or so Mike.

 

[Anonymous]

How many does this make total?

I think its 13-- which only leaves 20-200 more to find (depending on the expert/scientist/government bureaucracy you believe) over the next 15-20 years....

 

[Sandhusker]

How many does this make total?

It doesn't matter, Mike. The only thing that matters is "trade".

 

[Anonymous]

This quote about says it all-- the USDA is putting US consumers at higher risk just because of this "trade" issue.....

"Had this 13-year-old cow not been detected under Canada's limited, voluntary testing program, the meat from that cow would have been eligible for export to the United States," Thornsberry pointed out. "OTM cattle in a BSE-affected country bear an inherently higher risk for the disease, and USDA is acting irresponsibly by allowing both higher-risk beef and higher-risk cattle into the U.S. food supply.

"Fighting for the U.S. Cattle Producer"



For Immediate Release ; Contact: Shae Dodson, Communications Coordinator
December 18,2007 Phone: 406-672-8969; e-mail: [email protected]



Canada Discovers Yet Another Case of BSE



Billings, Mont. – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has just announced another discovery of a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) – this time in a 13-year-old Alberta beef cow.



"Although, as CFIA acknowledges, it did not improve its feed ban until mid-2007 and now claims to have a 'suite of robust BSE controls,' these controls are inadequate to protect the U.S. from this unnecessary and avoidable risk," said R-CALF USA President/Region VI Director Max Thornsberry, a Missouri veterinarian who also chairs the group's animal health committee. "It is important to note that this latest incident is actually Canada's 12th indigenous case of BSE, because the BSE-positive cow discovered in Washington state in December 2003 was imported into the U.S. from Canada. Counting the case of BSE detected in 1993 in one of the cattle Canada imported from Great Britain, Canada has detected a total of 13 BSE cases."


Eleven plaintiffs that represent both cattle-producer and consumer organizations recently filed a lawsuit against the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which argues that USDA's recently implemented over-30-month rule (OTM Rule), which allows the importation of older cattle and beef from Canada, violates USDA's own regulations. Current regulations prohibit imports of beef from BSE-affected countries that were derived from cattle born before an effective feed ban was implemented. However, the OTM Rule is in conflict with those regulations because it allows beef from cattle of any age to be imported into the United States.



"Had this 13-year-old cow not been detected under Canada's limited, voluntary testing program, the meat from that cow would have been eligible for export to the United States," Thornsberry pointed out. "OTM cattle in a BSE-affected country bear an inherently higher risk for the disease, and USDA is acting irresponsibly by allowing both higher-risk beef and higher-risk cattle into the U.S. food supply.



"Also, because Canada does not conduct mandatory testing for BSE like all other countries do that have detected multiple cases of BSE born after the date of feed ban implementation, there's a high likelihood that other BSE-infected cattle and beef from BSE-infected cattle are going undetected and making their way to beef consumers here," he warned. "Without country-of-origin labeling (COOL) in place, consumers cannot distinguish U.S. beef from Canadian beef, so they have no way of avoiding this risk."



"Canada still doesn't do sufficient BSE testing to determine the magnitude of its BSE problem, and because we are currently commingling Canadian cattle and beef with U.S. cattle and beef, our efforts to restore beef export markets lost since 2003 continue to be compromised," said R-CALF USA Trade Committee Co-Chair Eric Nelson. "In addition, USDA continues to ignore the fact that there is a hot spot of BSE infectivity in the Alberta Province. Canada's limited testing reveals that eight of Canada's 12 native BSE cases were detected in Albe rta.


"It is unconscionable that USDA would not at least allow U.S. cattle producers to differentiate their high-quality U.S. beef from Canadian beef with a country-of-origin label so we can maintain consumer confidence in our product and gain full resumption of U.S. exports," he asserted. "As things stand now, the U.S. cattle industry is unnecessarily tying its reputation to the BSE-afflicted Canadian cattle herd."



R-CALF USA calls on USDA to take immediate action to protect the integrity and viability of the U.S. cattle industry by:



Immediately reversing the OTM Rule.
Immediately reversing its policy of granting access for imports to the U.S. market before the U.S. regains full market access in foreign countries.
Immediately begin differentiating beef produced exclusively from U.S.-born cattle from beef produced from foreign cattle with a country-of-origin label.
Immediately requiring the Canadian government, as a condition of importing cattle under 30 months of age, to increase BSE testing to the level necessary to determine the true prevalence of BSE in the Canadian cattle herd, including mandatory testing of all high-risk cattle.


"USDA should take swift action to protect U.S. consumers and the U.S. cattle herd and to alleviate any negative perceptions major beef importers may have regarding Canada's BSE status, to keep from further eroding our chances of reopening lost export markets," Nelson said.



"This is still another example of why lifting the ban on OTM cattle from Canada was premature," said Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch, which is a consumer organization that also is a plaintiff in the lawsuit against the OTM Rule. "The USDA should immediately reinstitute the ban because it is obvious that Canada has an animal health problem that could impact human public health."



Besides R-CALF USA and Food & Water Watch, organizational plaintiffs include the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association; the Center for Food Safety; the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Foundation; Public Citizen, which has 90,000 members; and the Consumer Federation of American, with 50 million members. Individual plaintiffs include South Dakota cattle producers Herman Schumacher, Robert Mack, Ernie Mertz and Wayne Nelson.



"Based on USDA's so-called 'sound science,' one would assume that it is time for emergency measures for 'safe science,'" said Mertz.

 

[PORKER]

If they hadn't caught that cow, we be eating it. BAD BAD stuff.

 

[QUESTION]

I am sure you guys are all dancing for joy but here is the important points. The cow was too old to go south anyways. She was submitted by the owner not hidden as she would have been in the US. She makes the totals this year within the projected range expected from the OIE. I wonder why their predicted numbers match everywhere in the world but in the US :???: . :? In canada we are not feeding these animals to humans or putting them back in the bovine feedchain unlike in the US. Porker she could have never got across the border her age did not meet the rules which canadians follow :roll: The testing is taken serious in canada we test target animals that is why we find these animals. If you guys ever get it figured out maybe you will see the error in you ways. Have fun calling for the border closure maybe you guys should try to file another injuntion i want to see r-calf get another beating in court. Keep blowing money guys you had not a problem with OTMs as long as the COOL was implemented. So it isn't a consumer saftey issure try telling the truth for once.

 

[don]

do you think any american bse cows are being eaten?

 

[HeyNow]

do you think any american bse cows are being eaten?

There is no BSE in the states :roll: :roll: JUST A WHOLE PILE OF B.S.

 

[rkaiser]

Porker

If they hadn't caught that cow, we be eating it. BAD BAD stuff.

I would think that you of all people could see the sillyness in this post Porker. You are eating Mad cows in America. Mad cows that are slipping through your faulty surveillance system. Good lord man - how can you not see what is going on.

No test no find.

 

[Anonymous]

Questionable

The cow was too old to go south anyways.

Wrong again--She's not too old to go south as OTM beef tho, as Dr. Thornsberry said...That age limit is only on live cattle- not beef......

 

[rkaiser]

At least if she would have gone south in a box and been eaten; and caused some old Montana fart to start walking around in circles; they could have traced the box she came in back to Canada. Unlike the mad cows that you guys are eating down there that couldn't be traced to the last auction mart she walked through. Your surveillance program is a joke Oldtimer and you know it. You have BSE and that is that. Get over the cherry picking and get on with changing your industry. Work on BSE testing for export marketing purposes yourself ---- or are you sceeeered you might find a few more.........

 

[Anonymous]

You have BSE and that is that. .........

But that doesn't mean we should just go out and import more in...Just because I saw 1 rattlesnake in the front yard- doesn't mean I want to/should go out and haul in a couple dozen more..... :shock:

Especially since we get all the additional risk- with no gain.....

 

[Sandhusker]

Kaiser, "At least if she would have gone south in a box and been eaten; and caused some old Montana fart to start walking around in circles; they could have traced the box she came in back to Canada."

Because of the incubation period of the disease, he'd have to keep the box around for 15-20 years, then prove the disease came from beef from that box. Even if he could, would be impossible, what good would it do him? Would he somehow be less dead knowing where it came from?

 

[Tam]

Kaiser, "At least if she would have gone south in a box and been eaten; and caused some old Montana fart to start walking around in circles; they could have traced the box she came in back to Canada."

Because of the incubation period of the disease, he'd have to keep the box around for 15-20 years, then prove the disease came from beef from that box. Even if he could, would be impossible, what good would it do him? Would he somehow be less dead knowing where it came from?

Funny how when it was the Texas and Alabama cows that were born before the feed bans it was no big deal but this cow was born before the feed bans and we are back to we are all going to die if we import Canadian beef. :roll:

 

[Sandhusker]

Kaiser, "At least if she would have gone south in a box and been eaten; and caused some old Montana fart to start walking around in circles; they could have traced the box she came in back to Canada."

Because of the incubation period of the disease, he'd have to keep the box around for 15-20 years, then prove the disease came from beef from that box. Even if he could, would be impossible, what good would it do him? Would he somehow be less dead knowing where it came from?

Funny how when it was the Texas and Alabama cows that were born before the feed bans it was no big deal but this cow was born before the feed bans and we are back to we are all going to die if we import Canadian beef. :roll:

I don't think I ever saw anybody saying the Texas and Alabama cattle were no big deal.

Funny how you support the importation of your cattle and beef even after critisizing our feed ban. Actually, that isn't funny, but it is revealing.

 

[QUESTION]

You guys should mabey admit that Canada and the OIE knows what is going on. This cow was submitted by the producer and voulenteered to be tested. The producer didn't go out and rent a backhoe and have her disappear as is rumored to happen on a regualr basis in the US. The old cow didn't make it into the HUMAN or ANIMAL foodchain can that be said of the US BSE positives. You guys just seem to forget little things like this. Keep on trying to cherry pick issues :roll: . The fact is the border will not close to Canadian OTM cattle or breeding cattle. Your forward thinking US producers realize they need the Canadian cattle to advance the US cowherd. Keep on thinking the way you are and you will keep seeing the drop in consumtion of beef. And before you guys scream consumptiuon is up a million pounds from the 1990's , i was speaking the per capital consumption of beef while gross consumption is up per capita is way down just look at the USDA numbers. Way to go r-calf if nobody eats beef you won't have to worry about beef imports. Is that the kind of logic r-calf employs :???:

 

[Sandhusker]

You guys should mabey admit that Canada and the OIE knows what is going on. This cow was submitted by the producer and voulenteered to be tested. The producer didn't go out and rent a backhoe and have her disappear as is rumored to happen on a regualr basis in the US. The old cow didn't make it into the HUMAN or ANIMAL foodchain can that be said of the US BSE positives. You guys just seem to forget little things like this. Keep on trying to cherry pick issues :roll: . The fact is the border will not close to Canadian OTM cattle or breeding cattle. Your forward thinking US producers realize they need the Canadian cattle to advance the US cowherd. Keep on thinking the way you are and you will keep seeing the drop in consumtion of beef. And before you guys scream consumptiuon is up a million pounds from the 1990's , i was speaking the per capital consumption of beef while gross consumption is up per capita is way down just look at the USDA numbers. Way to go r-calf if nobody eats beef you won't have to worry about beef imports. Is that the kind of logic r-calf employs :???:

You hear rumors about US backhoes, we hear rumors about Canadian backhoes. Let's stop talking rumors and start talking facts. It'a fact that beef from cows that age are eligible for export to the US under the USDA's rule. If that cow would of been slaughtered six months ago before any test, it could be in my kid's burgers down here. That is an avoidable risk. I ask why are my kid's being subject to an avoidable risk? If you want to reduce beef consumption, importing disease has to be at the top of the list.

 

[rkaiser]

You know --- I really wish that more Asian and European consumer would actually read this thread or words like this more often. Canada could well export all of the extra beef we have off of this continent. The money and the need are out there. If those folks would know more of the truth about the USA and it's deception and Rcalf's admitting of that description - hell Asia and E.U. be damned - we would be selling more beef in to the good old USA. The longer this BS goes on the better chance Canada has of becoming "the " export nation of the world.

Keep it up Sandhusker - keep it up Oldtimer. We are getting closer to BSE testing our product every day. And when we do - we will be replacing beef from Montana in California meat cases. Montana meat that "could' be BSE infected and is being deceptively hidden - according to the Rcalf boys themselves.