Nine Saskatchewan farms quarantined over mad cow feed

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Nine Saskatchewan farms quarantined after mistakenly getting prohibited feed

Canadian Press
Published: Thursday, March 01, 2007

SASKATOON (CP) - Nine Saskatchewan farms and as many as 8,000 cattle, deer and other ruminants have been quarantined.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency shut down the farms after ruminant meat and bone meal was accidentally shipped to those farms from a Saskatoon feed mill.

Those materials have been banned from feed since 1997 as part of rules to protect against the spread of mad cow disease.

Two of the affected farms are in the Swift Current area, the rest around Saskatoon.

Dr. George Luterbach of the CFIA says a risk assessment is being done on the affected animals.

© The Canadian Press 2007


http://www.canada.com/topics/news/agric ... a8&k=97846



CFIA Shuts Nine Saskatchewan Farms Down
March 01, 2007

A huge mistake on the agriculture front has resulted in nine Saskatchewan farms and as many as eight thousand cattle, deer, and other ruminants, being quarantined.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has shut them down, after ruminant meat and bone meal was mistakenly shipped out to those farms by a Saskatoon feed mill.

Those materials have been banned from cattle and other ruminant feed since 1997, due to the threat of mad cow disease.

The affected farms include two in the Swift Current area, the rest are around Saskatoon.

Doctor George Luterbach speaks for the C-F-I-A, he says a risk assessment on the affected animals is now taking place.

Luterbach says the feed mill had ordered "feather meal" from the rendering plant that supplies it.

"Feather meal" is not prohibited from entering cattle and ruminant feed.

Brent Pushkarenko reporting.



http://www.newstalk980.com/index.php?p= ... ry&id=7673


TSS
 
Hi terry , I hope you have read the post i have put up but if you haven't the CFIA is already removing farms from the quarentine list, this morning a 7000 head feedlot removed, it had all the feed purchased none fed yet. and 2 others will be removed if they can account for all the suspect feed by this afternoon or monday morning. How are things going in Georgia has the USDA traced out the all the buyers of the dairy feed and quarentined the farms until the feed can be accounted for?
 
CFIA RESPONDS TO CONTAMINATED FEED

OTTAWA, March 2, 2007 - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has placed precautionary movement restrictions on cattle from nine farms in Saskatchewan because they received feed that did not meet Canada's current feed ban requirements. There is no food safety risk associated with meat and other products from the exposed animals.

The contamination occurred when misidentified ruminant meat and bone meal was distributed from a processor to feed mills. The meat and bone meal was subsequently included as an ingredient in certain ruminant animal feeds, which is not permitted under Canada's feed ban. The CFIA was notified by the processor and mills once the error was detected and immediately initiated an investigation.

All of the contaminated feed has been recalled and the CFIA has verified that all receiving farms have been properly cleaned. Preliminary findings of a science-based assessment indicate that the risk to animal health is, at most, very low. No exposed animals or their products were exported.

A complete investigation is underway to fully examine the situation and verify that the processor takes corrective measures. The CFIA will consider enforcement actions once the investigation concludes.

The CFIA is working with industry to activate the tracking mechanism, based on Canada's traceability system, which will replace the current movement restrictions.

The CFIA is committed to ensuring the ongoing effectiveness of Canada's feed ban. Domestic and international audits, supported by regular inspection activities, demonstrate very high levels of industry compliance with the ban. However, feed system controls are inherently complex and subject to human error. Enhancements to the feed ban, which come into effect in July 2007, will address potential opportunities for inadvertent contamination by removing more than 99% of potential BSE infectivity from the animal feed system.

All affected producers acted in full accordance with the feed ban, believing they were using feed intended for cattle and other ruminant animals. All involved stakeholders, including producers, continue to be very cooperative with the CFIA.

-30-

For information:
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Media relations: (613) 228-6682


http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/cor ... 302e.shtml





Written by Neil Billinger - 600 Action News-Local First

Friday, 02 March 2007
Meat and bone meal was accidentally added to feed sent to 9 Saskatchewan farms.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) received a call from a feed mill on February 21st. There was a mix-up between the feed mill and processor, which lead to meat and bone meal accidentally being added to the ruminant feed. The feed mill believed the ingredient was feather meal, which complies with the ruminant-to-ruminant feed ban. It was introduced in 1997 to prevent the spread of BSE.

The feed was delivered to 9 farms. Seven were within a 160 kilometer radius of Saskatoon. The other two are located in the southwest. About 8000 cattle and 250 deer are on the farms.

Dr. George Luterbach with the CFIA says ''at this point in time the producers are in a holding pattern. Their livestock has been restricted to the farms until we determine what the appropriate next steps will be."

Dr. Luterbach says a risk assessment is being conducted to determine the actual risk of BSE to these animals. "One should not automatically conclude that exposure to meat and bone meal automatically means they have been exposed to BSE." The CFIA will use the findings of the risk assessment to determine the appropriate next step. Dr. Luterbach adds ''probably as a minimum, the animals will be traced for their lifetime."

In a news release, the CFIA says a complete investigation is underway to fully examine the situation and verify that the processor takes corrective measures. The CFIA will consider enforcement action once the investigation concludes.

Dr. Luterbach is not able to say how long the investigation will take. He says "there is a lot of information that goes into the risk assessment . . . such as the source of the meat and bone meal, the inclusion rate into rations and the age of animals that ate the rations."

Dr. Luterbach also gives credit to the feed mill for its quick action. He says "the feed industry, once they realized their mistake, and the cattle producers have been extremely responsible. We have had full co-operation. It allowed us to quickly put a net around the situation to define which animals were exposed . . . to quickly remove contaminated feed from the system and dispose of it."

All of the contaminated feed has been recalled and the CFIA has verified that all receiving farms have been properly cleaned. Preliminary findings of a science-based assessment indicate that the risk to animal health is, at most, very low. No exposed animals or their products were exported.


http://www.saskatoonhomepage.ca/index.p ... &Itemid=87




Cattle Feeders Prez on Quarantine
March 02, 2007


The head of the Saskatchewan Cattle Feeders Association is weighing in, following the quarantine placed on nine Saskatchewan farms after banned feed got into the system.

Bill Jameson credits fast action on the part of the Saskatoon feed mill for alerting the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, that certain things banned from ruminant feed since 1997 were rationed and sent out to the farms. Jameson isn't about to comment on whether certain heads should roll over this. For now, he says he's awaiting the CFIA risk assessment on the 8,000 or so cattle, deer, and other ruminants affected.

The farms in question are located around Saskatoon and Swift Current.

Brent Pushkarenko reporting


http://www.newstalk650.com/index.php?p= ... ry&id=6154




wonder where this banned feed originated from ???




TSS
 

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