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Alberta hotspot for mad cow disease, says R-CALF
By
Kathy Jones
24
Aug, (foodconsumer.org) - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed the
detection of the country's eighth case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE),
or mad cow disease in an Alberta beef cow. This is Canada's fifth mad cow case
this year and overall eighth since 2003.
The Alberta cow is between eight to ten years old and
was probably exposed to the prion disease just before or shortly after Canada
banned the feeding of cattle protein to cattle and other ruminants in 1997, the
CFIA said. It stressed that no part of the cow had entered either human or
animal food chains.
The confirmation of the new mad cow case
"demonstrates the national surveillance program's effectiveness in detecting
periodic BSE cases as it works to eliminate the disease entirely within the next
decade," the food inspection agency said.
The CFIA said in a statement that available
information gleaned from the dead cow's owner put the age of the animal between
eight to ten years. This means that it could have contracted the mad cow disease
before or just after the feed ban was imposed.
"Based on this range, exposure to the BSE agent
likely occurred either before the feed ban's introduction or during its early
implementation," it said.
The agency added that it was investigating the cow's
birth farm, to determine its exact age and also how it came to be exposed to mad
cow-causing prions. "As has been done previously, the CFIA will conduct a
complete epidemiological review of this case, the results of which will be made
public," the agency added.
The Canadian Cattlemen's Association stressed that
beef products in the country were safe and assured other countries that there
was no fear of contaminated beef exports. "We probably have the most aggressive,
safest beef supply of any country in the world," said Brad Wildeman,
vice-president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association.
"We just need to keep hammering that home to our
international trading partners that when it comes to a safe, quality product,
that we've got that to offer them."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said that it would
not restrict Canadian beef imports following the detection of the new mad cow
case. USDA Secretary Mike Johanns said that Canada has started an
epidemiological investigation to identify the animal's herd of origin.
"With the information currently available we do not
anticipate a change in the status of beef imports from Canada. While our risk
assessment anticipated multiple cases of BSE, we are confident that the
interlocking safeguards in place in both Canada and the U.S. are providing
effective consumer protection," he added.
However U.S. rancher lobby group R-CALF said the new
case confirmed their worst fears. "R-CALF has been saying all along that it
appears the prevalence of BSE in Canada is a lot higher than anybody
anticipated," said R-CALF USA President and Region V Director Chuck Kiker. "This
raises a tremendous amount of concern, especially in light of the fact that it
does not appear Canada's meat and bone meal ban, or feed ban, was effective."
R-CALF USA feels that Alberta is the hot spot for mad
cow disease. In May the organization had sent letters to Agriculture Secretary
Mike Johanns and Congress urging them to take steps to see that Canada's BSE
does not enter US.
In the letter R-CALF had asked USDA and Congress to:
* Rescind its Minimal Risk Region Rule that presently
allows the importation of cattle and beef from cattle under 30 months of age
from Canada until a comprehensive analysis is completed on Canada's latest
detection of a 4 year, 2 month old cow with BSE;
* End its practice of granting access to the U.S.
market before the United States fully regains all of its lost export markets;
and,
* Ensure that beef produced exclusively from U.S.
cattle be clearly labeled with a Country-of-Origin Label (COOL) for consumers,
both domestic and abroad.
However the American Meat Institute said that the
detection of the new mad cow case proved that Canada's surveillance program was
working very well. "We hope and expect that this case will not adversely affect
USDA's rulemaking efforts to restore all beef trade with Canada. We reiterate
our confidence that BSE is being eliminated in North America," said AMI
President and CEO J. Patrick Boyle.
Canadian cattle industry suffered huge losses when
the first case of mad cow disease was detected in Alberta in May 2003. The
consequent ban on beef and dairy exports to the United States caused an
estimated $7 billion in losses to the Canadian industry.
The exports resumed in the fall of 2003, but the
damage had already been done. However initial reactions to this fresh
development indicate that the trade should remain unaffected this time around.
In July Canada said it would tighten the 1997 rules
that prohibit feeding ground-up cattle parts back to cattle. Animal scientists
believe that BSE is caused when cattle eat feed with bone meal containing
ruminant offal contaminated with BSE.
These rules will start in July 2007 and prohibit the
use of cattle tissue suspected of causing BSE from all animal feed, pet food and
fertilizer.
The rules were changed after a six-year-old dairy cow
was found to be infected on a farm in the Fraser Valley in British Columbia. In
the US two cows in Texas and Alabama tested positive for mad cow disease over
the past year. Scientists speculate that the cows may have been infected with a
rare strain of the disease, although no confirmation has been forthcoming.
BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) is a
progressive neurological disorder of cattle that is caused by an agent called as
prion. It is not properly understood how this prion transmits itself among
cattle. The disease is characterized disorientation in the affected animals,
clumsiness and aggressive behavior towards humans and other animals. BSE is
usually a fatal disease
In the United States, BSE has been identified in one
case in December 2003, while another case had delivered conflicting results
before it was confirmed as BSE by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency in
Weybridge, England.
In humans BSE takes the form of a variant CJD
(Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease). This disease is characterized by
psychiatric/behavioral symptoms; painful dyesthesiasis and delayed neurological
signs. Infection usually occurs after consuming contaminated beef of diary
products.
The fact that the new mad cow case has no bearing on
the food chain is reassuring. However as many organizations have repeatedly
said, the frequency of detection of mad cow cases in Canada is worrisome.
http://www.foodconsumer.org/777/8/Alberta_hotspot_for_mad_cow_disease_says_R-CALF_.shtml
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