REPORT: Mad Cow Case in Canada / August 2008

For those who think "its over" or "its safe." It would do well to remember, WE (the USA) import alot of beef from Canada for our own use, and hee hee, we DO NOT even check our own healthy cows; how safe can any beef be, or, any meat for that matter? Remember, it is NOT just cows anymore, and NOT just brains and spinal cord tissues they are finding these mad cow "prions" in, it is found now even in meat and muscle! They are finding "mutant" Mad Cow prions in many species, sheep, pigs, etc., young and old, healthy & sick, even in wild game, and it IS effecting humans (CJD,) though studies show it can lay dormant for 20-30 years. Once symptoms do appear, death to the human usually comes on quickly, though it is a "wasting" disease. Some studies even link this mutant human mad-cow prion to Alheimers Disease. Could it really be? Scarey stuff, huh?

VANCOUVER, B.C. — The Canada Food Inspection Agency says a B.C. feed manufacturer is the most likely source of the country's 13th case of mad cow disease.

Canada brought in changes more than a decade ago to stop animal products from being fed to cattle, sheep and goats and prevent the transfer of bovine spongiform encephalopathy into the food chain.

But Dr. Connie Argue of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Thursday that one of the most recent cases of BSE and all 12 previous cases likely came "through incidents of accidental cross-contamination, which may occur in the complex feed and manufacturing system."

There have been 14 cases of BSE diagnosed in Canada since 2003, the most recent found in Alberta in August.

When the first case was discovered the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Australia and several other countries imposed a temporary import ban on Canadian beef.

The latest agency report involves a five-year-old dairy cow from British Columbia's Fraser Valley which tested positive for the disease in June.

Because the incubation period is four to six years, officials belief the animal was contaminated as a calf.

The food source was narrowed down to an unnamed food supplier of heifer ration that also manufactured food for other, non-ruminant animals that contained material prohibited from cattle, sheep and goat feed.

Two other unnamed feed manufacturers where prohibited material was handled were also mentioned in the report as potential areas for cross-contamination.

The report said the feed did not contained banned protein on purpose, but may have been contaminated by equipment used to process non-ruminant feed.

"Bulk ingredient receiving and finished feed conveyances were cross-utilized," the report said.

The agency said a total of 207 other animals connected to the diseased cow either have been or will be destroyed.

"The detection of this case does not change any of Canada's BSE risk parameters," the report concluded. "The location and age of the animal are consistent with previous cases."

When asked if there was concern for other farms that used feed from the suspect manufacturers, Argue said the investigation is limited to feeds that were given to the animals on the same farm at the time.

Canada is classified under the world organization for animal health as a controlled BSE risk country.

Last year the Canadian government extended regulations to eliminate all risk materials, tissues that have been shown to harbour BSE infection, from all animal food, pet feed and fertilizer.

"The enhancements to the feed ban are meant to accelerate BSE eradication in Canada," Argue said.

She predicted there will be more animals diagnosed with BSE in the next few years but said the fact that infected animals continue to show up is a testament to how vigilant the inspection process is in Canada.


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