Alberta dairy cow likely got BSE from feed supply, CFIA investigates Canadian Press
Published: Friday, August 25, 2006 Article tools
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Font: * * * * OTTAWA (CP) - An Alberta dairy cow that was diagnosed last month with bovine spongiform encephalopathy probably contracted the disease from contaminated feed, federal regulators say.
Because the 50-month-old animal from an Edmonton-area farm was exposed to mad cow disease after a 1997 feed ban was imposed, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has launched an enforcement investigation.
"A particular incident was documented in one commercial feed facility that may have permitted the contamination of a single batch of cattle feed with prohibited material," the CFIA said in a release Thursday night.
"The entire batch of feed was shipped to the BSE-positive animal's farm. This particular batch of feed is the most probable source of infection."
The name of the facility was not included in the release or in a related report.
CFIA officials were not immediately available for comment.
The CFIA report said two feed manufacturing facilities received prohibited material from the same rendering plant implicated in previous BSE investigations.
The investigation is focusing on the activities of the feed mills, the report said.
The CFIA tracked approximately 170 cows that originated at the same farm as the infected dairy cow.
The trace-out investigation located 38 live animals on the farm and in other herds to which they had been sold.
Most of these animals have been destroyed and their carcasses burned.
Four animals have been retained under quarantine to allow for calving or collection of valuable genetic material, the CFIA said. They will also be destroyed.
Of the remaining animals 113 have died or been slaughtered.
Eight animals were determined to be untraceable because of inadequate records.
The infected dairy cow did not die of BSE and no part of its carcass entered the human or animal food chain.
It was the seventh cow in Canada to test positive for mad cow disease.
On Wednesday another Alberta animal, a beef cow believe to be up to 10-years-old, was diagnosed with BSE.
Canada implemented a feed ban in 1997 that prohibited the use of cattle parts susceptible to BSE in certain animal feeds.
Earlier this year that ban was extended to include all types of animal feed, pet food and fertilizers.
The agency said the extension of the ban will help to eliminate BSE from Canada's herd in the next decade.
Since the 1997 feed ban, close to 120,000 cows have been tested for BSE.
Published: Friday, August 25, 2006 Article tools
Printer friendly
Font: * * * * OTTAWA (CP) - An Alberta dairy cow that was diagnosed last month with bovine spongiform encephalopathy probably contracted the disease from contaminated feed, federal regulators say.
Because the 50-month-old animal from an Edmonton-area farm was exposed to mad cow disease after a 1997 feed ban was imposed, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has launched an enforcement investigation.
"A particular incident was documented in one commercial feed facility that may have permitted the contamination of a single batch of cattle feed with prohibited material," the CFIA said in a release Thursday night.
"The entire batch of feed was shipped to the BSE-positive animal's farm. This particular batch of feed is the most probable source of infection."
The name of the facility was not included in the release or in a related report.
CFIA officials were not immediately available for comment.
The CFIA report said two feed manufacturing facilities received prohibited material from the same rendering plant implicated in previous BSE investigations.
The investigation is focusing on the activities of the feed mills, the report said.
The CFIA tracked approximately 170 cows that originated at the same farm as the infected dairy cow.
The trace-out investigation located 38 live animals on the farm and in other herds to which they had been sold.
Most of these animals have been destroyed and their carcasses burned.
Four animals have been retained under quarantine to allow for calving or collection of valuable genetic material, the CFIA said. They will also be destroyed.
Of the remaining animals 113 have died or been slaughtered.
Eight animals were determined to be untraceable because of inadequate records.
The infected dairy cow did not die of BSE and no part of its carcass entered the human or animal food chain.
It was the seventh cow in Canada to test positive for mad cow disease.
On Wednesday another Alberta animal, a beef cow believe to be up to 10-years-old, was diagnosed with BSE.
Canada implemented a feed ban in 1997 that prohibited the use of cattle parts susceptible to BSE in certain animal feeds.
Earlier this year that ban was extended to include all types of animal feed, pet food and fertilizers.
The agency said the extension of the ban will help to eliminate BSE from Canada's herd in the next decade.
Since the 1997 feed ban, close to 120,000 cows have been tested for BSE.