Another Mad Cow in Canada

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

Canada finds new case of mad cow disease-source
11 Jan 2005 17:40:46 GMT

Source: Reuters

(Recasts with news that another case has been found, adds time of briefing)

By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Canadian veterinary officials will announce they have found a new case of mad cow disease in a briefing slated for 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT), an agricultural source told Reuters on Tuesday.

"The case is confirmed. They have the results of the 'gold standard' test," the source told Reuters, referring to the definitive laboratory test used to confirm mad cow disease.

The case would be Canada's third home-grown incidence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.

No other details were immediately available on the case.

It comes as the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed signs it is looking to withdraw its plan to allow imports of young live cattle from Canada.

The trade ban has depressed Canadian prices and crippled ranches and feedlots. Cattle farmers have lost an estimated C$5 billion ($4.1 billion) since the first home-grown case was found in May 2003.

The USDA had announced plans to restart trade on March 7, after it learned about Canada's second case of the disease, which was confirmed on Jan. 2.

U.S. cattle farmers have said in recent days they thought the plan should be delayed.

A U.S. industry source said the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service was reconsidering the move on Tuesday.

"Career folks at APHIS are saying they are going to kill the rule," the industry source said.

A USDA spokesman declined comment.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said last week it would test nine old cattle related to the Jan. 2 case of mad cow disease.

Until 2003, North America had been considered free of the brain-wasting livestock disease, which has ravaged the cattle industry in Britain and other European countries.

Humans can contract a form of the disease from eating contaminated meat -- variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease -- and more than 100 people around the world have died from it, mainly in Europe.

The United States reported its first case of mad cow disease in December 2003, but traced it to a Canadian-born dairy cow.

All three North American cases were born before 1997 feed rules designed to prevent the spread of mad cow disease.

Canadian officials have warned they expected to find a few more cases of the disease as they dramatically increased tests of old and sick cattle.

Last year, the CFIA tested more than 23,500 cattle for the disease.

($1=$1.22 Canadian) (Additional reporting by Charles Abbott in Charlotte, N.C., Randy Fabi in Washington and Roberta Rampton in Winnipeg)

 

[Oldtimer]

CFIA is saying that this cow also originated in Alberta--That makes 4 BSE cows with origins in Alberta in the last 2 years........

And they are saying this one is 6 years old- born after the feed ban--they are speculating it was fed some left over feed........

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

I'll be interested to find out where they trace this contaminated feed to. Alberta imports alot of feed from the US. Wouldn't it be ironic if they found out the common link was a US feed source?

 

[txshowmom]

I'll be interested to find out where they trace this contaminated feed to. Alberta imports alot of feed from the US. Wouldn't it be ironic if they found out the common link was a US feed source?

Are you trying to cast the blame on th US for poor cattle managmnet in you country.

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

Are you trying to cast the blame on th US for poor cattle managmnet in you country.

Still tactful as always, I see.

 

[txshowmom]

Are you trying to cast the blame on th US for poor cattle managmnet in you country.

Still tactful as always, I see.

I see no point in beating around the bush. You got something to say, just say it.

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

I see no point in beating around the bush. You got something to say, just say it.

Why don't you back to the showboard. Maybe somebody there might value your opinion.

 

[Old Man]

Well, it will be interesting to see if the BSE positive cows were eating the same feed from the same source for thier entire life. I doubt that many cows actually do.
Have all the BSE positive cows in Canada been holstein? or rather, dairy animals fed dairy-type rations? I wonder how many beef bred animals every taste grain before they go to a finishing feed lot? If an animal has never eaten grain, or perhaps has eaten a very minimal amount, I would think their chance of testing BSE positive would be much less then that of the average dairy cow that typically eats quite a lot of grain ration daily.

 

[Dave]

I just read that this one was a purebred beef cow which is different than all the others that were dairy cows. I was beginning to think about milk replacer which all dairy cows get as calves as a possible source, but this cow probably rules that out. One does have to wonder when they are all coming out of Alberta.

Dave

 

[Jake]

Border to be closed? I'm gunna say it's the milk replacer. Probably focused in Alberta because it's all coming out of one plant that sells to the local/ sub-local area...

 

[Old Man]

CNN showed a holstein dairy when they gave the news at 6 pm eastern. It might not mean anything. BUT, you mentioned milk replacer. I've got to tell a quick true story. Maybe 8 or 10 years ago, my cattle trucker told me to buy a special milk replacer at a local feed store to raise a couple orphaned calves I had that year. He had used it and thought it was a great product. Only had to feed it for a month or so and the calf could then eat hay and grain. So I went to the store and bought it. When I got it home and read the ingredients, it was called a blood replacer or something like that and it contained dried beef blood-- lots of it. When I mixed it with warm water, it was dark redish color. Make you want to puke. I fed it for a day or two and tossed it. I thought it was gross--kind of like being a cannibal or something.

 

[frenchie]

Latest Information
Latest Information (as of January 11, 2005 - 14:00 EST)
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) today announced that Canada's national surveillance program has detected bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in an Alberta beef cow just under seven years of age. As part of its surveillance program, the CFIA has control of the carcass. No part of the animal has entered the human food or animal feed systems.

The CFIA is investigating what the animal may have been fed early in its life and the source of the feed. The infected animal was born in March 1998, and the farm of origin has been confirmed. Based on preliminary information, feed produced prior to the introduction of the 1997 feed ban in Canada remains the most likely source of infection in this animal.

 

[WORANCH]

Latest Information

The infected animal was born in March 1998, and the farm of origin has been confirmed. Based on preliminary information, feed produced prior to the introduction of the 1997 feed ban in Canada remains the most likely source of infection in this animal.

Let me see if I understand this ..The feed ban started in 1997 . This calf was born in March 1998... and someone still fed baned feed to his cattle ?

The last LIVESTOCK REPORTER I recieved has an article by Todd Nelley STATING THAT ANIMAL PROTEIN was found in nearly 60 % of canadian cattle feed.

 

[WORANCH]

BSE could have entered human food chain, officials say
Last Updated Fri, 07 Jan 2005 16:17:10 EST
CBC News
OTTAWA - Federal officials say cattle infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy – known as mad cow disease – may have been eaten by humans, but stressed the chance of contracting a potentially fatal illness is extremely low.


INDEPTH: Mad Cow Disease


Dr. Gary Little
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Friday that it's tracking 141 cattle from the Alberta farm that raised Canada's second confirmed case of BSE.


FROM JAN. 3, 2005: Canada has another confirmed case of mad cow disease

Some of these cows may have been made into animal or human food, said an agency spokesman, Dr. Gary Little.

"At least a small number of them have been slaughtered and have entered the human-food system, potentially," Little told a news conference in Ottawa.

He and other officials downplayed the risk to consumers, even though BSE can cause the human disease of Creutzfeldt-Jakob that killed at least 40 people in Britain in the 1990s.

"We can't say that would be a zero risk event because zero risk doesn't exist," said Mayers.

Little said investigators from his agency have quarantined nine dairy cattle born on the farm a year before and a year after the infected animal was delivered in October 1996. They plan to begin killing and testing the animals for BSE next week.

They're tracking a total of 93 dairy and 48 beef cattle from the farm to see whether the animals could have been exposed.

Canada's feed ban works, Little says

The news may bolster the arguments of several U.S. politicians, who on Thursday unsuccessfully pressed their government to delay reopening its border on March 7 to young Canadian cattle and beef.


Canadians have been banned from exporting live cattle to the U.S. since May 2003.
They cited reports from U.S. regulators and Little's agency that suggested Canadian companies flouted a 1997 ban on feeding animal remains to cows, thought to be the primary way that BSE is spread.

The National Post newspaper reported Friday that Canadian Food Inspection Agency tests have discovered that four brands of feed likely included parts from cattle or other ruminants.

Little, a veterinarian for the federal agency, defended Canada's testing regime on Friday. "We have every confidence in our feed ban system and the systems that we have in place."

Probe into 2nd case moving faster

He said the probe into the country's second BSE case is much faster than the one after the first case was discovered on an Alberta farm in 2003, because investigators knew the animal's birthplace and could track its movements without casting a wide net.

Officials confirmed the case on Jan. 3, just days after the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it would lift the 19-month ban that has devastated Canada's cattle industry.

 

[frenchie]

Latest Information

The infected animal was born in March 1998, and the farm of origin has been confirmed. Based on preliminary information, feed produced prior to the introduction of the 1997 feed ban in Canada remains the most likely source of infection in this animal.

Let me see if I understand this ..The feed ban started in 1997 . This calf was born in March 1998... and someone still fed baned feed to his cattle ?

The last LIVESTOCK REPORTER I recieved has an article by Todd Nelley STATING THAT ANIMAL PROTEIN was found in nearly 60 % of canadian cattle feed.

Woranch my understanding is that the feed companies were not required to recall feed manufactured prior to the ban.It is foreseable that a rancher could also have bought a large quantity of feed before the ban and still have a bag or two left over.he may not of even known he was feeding a banned feed.


I was also told that the Animal protein your refer to was from rodents.if your article in the livestock reporter says different please post it.


One laast thing it has never been proven that B.S.E was or is transfered by feed. Its just the accepted theory. good luck

 

[frenchie]

BSE could have entered human food chain, officials say
Last Updated Fri, 07 Jan 2005 16:17:10 EST
CBC News
OTTAWA - Federal officials say cattle infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy – known as mad cow disease – may have been eaten by humans, but stressed the chance of contracting a potentially fatal illness is extremely low.



Dr. Gary Little
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Friday that it's tracking 141 cattle from the Alberta farm that raised Canada's second confirmed case of BSE.

Thats quite a statement considering 141 animals have not been tested for B.S.E

 

[CattleAnnie]

Man oh man... all this sure is going to make it hard to be enthusiatic about those 3 am calving checks in a couple weeks.

And to think I used to shake my head about the emu and ostrich ranchers. At least you don't have to strip down to your shirt sleeves to pull an egg out of those mommas...

Hang in there all.

Take care.

 

[frenchie]

Man oh man... all this sure is going to make it hard to be enthusiatic about those 3 am calving checks in a couple weeks.

And to think I used to shake my head about the emu and ostrich ranchers. At least you don't have to strip down to your shirt sleeves to pull an egg out of those mommas...

Hang in there all.

Take care.

Hey you been calving or what..good to see your still around.

 

[WORANCH]

Latest Information

The infected animal was born in March 1998, and the farm of origin has been confirmed. Based on preliminary information, feed produced prior to the introduction of the 1997 feed ban in Canada remains the most likely source of infection in this animal.

Let me see if I understand this ..The feed ban started in 1997 . This calf was born in March 1998... and someone still fed baned feed to his cattle ?

The last LIVESTOCK REPORTER I recieved has an article by Todd Nelley STATING THAT ANIMAL PROTEIN was found in nearly 60 % of canadian cattle feed.

Woranch my understanding is that the feed companies were not required to recall feed manufactured prior to the ban.It is foreseable that a rancher could also have bought a large quantity of feed before the ban and still have a bag or two left over.he may not of even known he was feeding a banned feed.


I was also told that the Animal protein your refer to was from rodents.if your article in the livestock reporter says different please post it.


One laast thing it has never been proven that B.S.E was or is transfered by feed. Its just the accepted theory. good luck

The National Post newspaper reported Friday that Canadian Food Inspection Agency tests have discovered that four brands of feed likely included parts from cattle or other ruminants.

OK since it has never been proven how BSE is transfered , then I think the border needs to be closed till we know .

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

WORANCH: The National Post newspaper reported Friday that Canadian Food Inspection Agency tests have discovered that four brands of feed likely included parts from cattle or other ruminants.




Cattle feed violates ban: federal tests: Animal remnants found in 4 brands
January 7, 2005
National Post
A1 / Front
April Lindgren, with files from Chad Skelton
Source: CanWest News Service
Federal tests have, according to this story, discovered that four brands of Canadian cattle feed likely included cattle or other ruminant parts in violation of a ban on animal remains designed to protect against mad cow disease.
Sergio Tolusso of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency was cited as saying the feed and feed ingredients were sold as being free of animal matter, but microscopic examinations detected animal material in 66 of 110 samples tested between January and March, 2004.
Mr. Tolusso, the agency's feed program co-ordinator, was quoted as saying that
subsequent inspections of feed mills led officials to conclude "there were some cases where it was more likely than others that it could be ruminant protein. We are looking at four cases where we thought it [feed] could be material of ruminant origin."
Mr. Tolusso played down any risk the material could lead to the spread of mad-cow disease.
About half of the 110 samples were taken from imported feed products, while the balance came from Canadian mills. CFIA officials would not release the names or locations of the four plants.
Christine Aquino, spokeswoman for federal Agriculture Minister Andy Mitchell, was quoted as saying regular inspections and audits of the country's 550 feed mills have shown "a very high compliance with the feed ban."