Does anyone know the results of the investigation concerning this story?
BSE cases may be linked to Edmonton plant
Last Updated Wed, 31 Dec 2003 14:08:23 EST
CBC News
EDMONTON - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says a possible source of North America's two BSE cases may be feed made with rendered BSE-contaminated cow parts that was sold to hundreds of Alberta ranchers before a 1997 ban on such practices.
* INDEPTH: Mad Cow Disease
The latest case of BSE was identified in a Holstein cow born in Alberta in 1997 and sold to an American farmer two years ago.
The preliminary finding raises questions about how many other cows born before the feed ban may have been exposed to BSE-infected feed – and whether the Canadian herd may have been infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy as early as 1997.
A report published in the Edmonton Journal Tuesday pointed the finger at an Edmonton rendering plant, North Alberta Processing, as a possible source of contamination that led to two mad cow cases in Alberta and Washington state.
The plant's manager, Keith Kalbfleisch, said the story implies there must have been a BSE-infected cow in 1997.
"You have to have something infected in order to have infected material," said Kalbfleisch.
BSE was first found in Canada in 1993, when an infected cow was imported from Britain. The cow and its five herd mates were destroyed.
But the country then seemed clear of BSE until May 20, 2003, with the discovery of a diseased Alberta cow.
* FROM Dec. 29, 2003: USDA: BSE cow born before feed ban
The Edmonton Journal quoted Tom Spiller of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency as saying there may be a link between the Edmonton plant and the cases of mad cow disease in Canada and the U.S.
"Right now, it's possible that the feed both for this cow and the one found in May contained materials from one rendering plant in the Edmonton area," Spiller told the Journal, adding that the feed investigation is only preliminary.
The world community began shutting its doors to U.S. beef after a BSE-infected cow was discovered in Washington state last Tuesday. The cow is believed to have been born at a farm near Leduc, Alta.
Federal Agriculture Minister Bob Speller hinted there's still a chance that DNA tests will rule out the Canadian herd as the source of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy case.
"They haven't even decided if it's a Canadian cow or not and I think that was a little premature to have that in the paper today," Kalbfleisch said, in response to the newspaper report.
DNA test results from the infected Holstein are expected back by the end of this week.
The Canadian beef industry has lost an estimated $1.9 billion since a single case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy was detected in an Alberta cow last May.
"We don't even know if it's the right cow yet. We have an ear tag," Speller said at a news conference in Edmonton Tuesday.
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