Traceout on Canada BSE cow moves quickly... compared to USA Alabama case. ...tss
8. Feb. 27, 2006 – A veterinarian observes possible BSE symptoms in Alabama cross-bred beef cow. She's ordered killed for testing in early March, with BSE confirmed March 11 at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory. The carcass, which had been buried at the farm, is removed for further testing and disposal. The ongoing investigation apparently made no progress last week with multiple auction sales records search and potential farm locations being sampled for genetic matches to the BSE cow.
9. April 12, 2006 – A veterinarian orders test of Holstein cow with physical symptoms at farm near Chilliwack, B.C. Positive screening test followed by national laboratory test confirm BSE. All of the carcass recovered and kept out of animal or human food chains
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Traceout on Canada BSE cow moves quickly
Tam Moore
Capital Press Staff Writer
Veterinarians in Canada cut to the chase this week, checking feed sources for a Holstein cow confirmed to have bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The animal, euthanized last week after showing signs of BSE, was quickly traced to her birth farm.
"The producer has just excellent records," said George Leuterbach, a Canadian Food Inspection Agency veterinarian.
Speaking by phone from a field office in British Columbia, Leuterbach said investigators moved to feed mills April 18 after getting detailed information from the birth farm. Another team sought disposition of two older offspring of the BSE cow, and identified all cattle born within one year of the BSE cow.
BSE is a rare and fatal cattle disease first scientifically described Britain in 1986. It is popularly called mad cow disease because of erratic gait and behavior of cattle as their brain tissue deteriorates.
The 6-year-old animal was part of a dairy near Chilliwack, B.C., a Fraser Valley town east of Vancouver. She was a purebred, owned by the dairy for the past year. Leuterbach said she was born and spent the first five years of her life at a nearby dairy farm.
He did not identify either farm, but said they are both "well-known" in the Fraser Valley.
For the CFIA, that quick trace is prelude to a mystery yet to be solved: Where is Canada's BSE coming from? The theory in previous cases, with the exception of a British-born animal diagnosed in 1993, is that contaminated feed – contaminated with protein from central nervous system tissue or organs known to concentrate the BSE-causing agent – is given to a calf.
That's the basis for bans on feeding protein derived from ruminant animals to other ruminant animals. Both Canada and the United States began bans in 1997.
This marks the first native-born Canadian BSE case not linked with a cluster of BSE confirmations centered on Alberta, the Canadian province with the largest cattle population.
Hugh Lynch-Staunton, president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, told Reuters he suspected some of the B.C. feed will turn out to be from Alberta. He also said finding another BSE case shouldn't be a surprise.
Canada's first case in 2003 had an after-the-fact British Columbia connection that Leuterbach said isn't relevant to this investigation.
In that first case, the carcass was rendered into poultry feed before the routine BSE test was made. In tracing out where the feed went, the CFIA found a B.C. poultry farm where cattle grazing next to the hen house could possibly have eaten spilled chicken feed. Leuterbach said in this case, the B.C. BSE cow was born in April 2000.
What interests feed investigators, he said, is content of rations in the first year of a calf's life. That includes how mills mixed formulations and were cleaned between running specific formulations.
Leuterbach told the Globe and Mail he suspects "a small amount or residual contamination" existed after the feed ban.
Chuck Strahl, Canada's minister of agriculture, said late last week that more cases of the rare disease can be expected.
"We are likely going to have the odd recurring case for some time," Strahl said.
The CFIA recently published preliminary rules tightening its ruminant feed ban. They've yet to take effect. A CFIA news release this week said the agency is "in the process of finalizing" details in the rule revision.
The U.S. government sent an investigation team to British Columbia early this week. They are under orders from Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns "to determine what, if any, impact this should have on our beef and live cattle trade with Canada."
Imports of selected steers and heifers, including feeder cattle, resumed in July 2005 after being suspended since May 2003. The USDA limited those imports to animals under 30 months old, on the theory that the average BSE case expresses itself at 60 months age and becomes detectable about one year before. A rule that would allow resumption of over-30-month-old cattle is under consideration by USDA officials.
The Globe and Mail and Reuters contributed to this report. Tam Moore is based in Medford, Ore. His e-mail address is [email protected].
http://www.capitalpress.info/main.asp?S ... M=48099.93
FINAL TESTING CONFIRMS BSE CASE IN B.C.
OTTAWA, April 16, 2006 -
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/cor ... 416e.shtml
USA ALABAMA BSE INVESTIGATION
April 19, 2006 - Sparks Welcomes Korean Delegation
MONTGOMERY- Commissioner Ron Sparks welcomed agricultural specialists from Korea who are here to learn about Alabama's cattle industry. The visit is the result of a renewed interest by Korea in importing US beef.
http://www.agi.state.al.us/press_releas ... ation?pn=2
Apr 13, 14, 17, 18, and 19, 2006 — There is nothing new to report and the investigation continues.
Apr 12, 2006
There is nothing new to report and the investigation continues. An updated flow chart has been posted below.
Flow chart
Apr 11, 2006
There is nothing new to report and the investigation continues.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_ ... date.shtml
March 31, 2006
There is nothing new to report today and the investigation continues. Also, USDA APHIS will not be posting updates over the weekend.
A flow chart has been posted below to illustrate the Alabama epidemiological investigation to date. It shows that the traceback has broadened from the index farm to include many farms and stockyards. These additional farms are where the index cow may have lived previously or where her immediate family members may have lived. The stockyards are places where investigators have reviewed records of transactions and conducted interviews. Each link to the index animal is being thoroughly examined and then, based on the information collected, the link will either continue on to another location or be closed. Flow chart
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_ ... _29_06.pdf
March 30, 2006
As of today, 14 locations and 44 movements of cattle have been examined with 39 of those being substantially completed. Additional investigations of locations and herds will continue. A location includes stockyards or farms where the index cow lived previously or where her immediate family members may have lived. The movements include any arrivals or departures from those locations.
March 29, 2006
As of today, 14 locations and 44 movements of cattle have been examined with 34 of those being substantially completed. Additional investigations of locations and herds will continue. A location includes stockyards or farms where the index cow lived previously or where her immediate family members may have lived. The movements include any arrivals or departures from those locations.
March 28, 2006
As of today, 14 locations and 44 movements of cattle have been examined with 32 of those being substantially completed. Additional investigations of locations and herds will continue. A location includes stockyards or farms where the index cow lived previously or where her immediate family members may have lived. The movements include any arrivals or departures from those locations.
March 27, 2006
As of today, 14 locations and 40 movements of cattle have been examined with 32 of those being substantially completed. Additional investigations of locations and herds will continue. A location includes stockyards or farms where the index cow lived previously or where her immediate family members may have lived. The movements include any arrivals or departures from those locations. Additional investigations of locations and herds will continue.
March 24, 2006
USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa matched the DNA of the carcass excavated in Alabama with the BSE positive sample from the index animal. The DNA will also be used to match suspected siblings and offspring found during the epidemiological investigation. The carcass of the index animal did not have any identification tags or tattoos.
A Canadian Food Inspection Agency and a Food and Drug Administration representative have been with the Alabama investigational team since last week and are assisting in the investigation.
The investigation is ongoing. Our next update will be posted Monday, March 27, 2006.
March 23, 2006
As of today, 13 locations and 32 movements of cattle have been examined with 27 of those being substantially completed. Additional investigations of locations and herds will continue. In addition, state and federal officials have confirmed that a black bull calf was born in 2005 to the index animal (the red cow). The calf was taken by the owner to a local stockyard in July 2005 where the calf died. The calf was appropriately disposed of in a local landfill and did not enter the human or animal food chain.
March 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22, 2006
Nothing to report.
March 17, 2006
Federal and state officials today learned that in early 2005 the BSE-positive cow gave birth to a black, bull calf. We are in the process of tracing this animal.
March 16, 2006
Today, officials with the state of Alabama and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have completed work at the farm in Alabama to recover the remains of the cow that tested earlier this week as positive for BSE.
Federal and state agriculture workers excavated the remains of the animal, which had been buried on the farm and did not enter the animal or human food chain, in accordance with USDA protocols. While the carcass matches the description provided by the owner, samples are being sent to USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) in Ames , Iowa to match DNA with the positive sample. The DNA will also be used to match suspected siblings and offspring found during the epidemiological investigation.
After further examination, experts confirmed through dentition that the animal was at least 10 years of age. This means the animal would have been born prior to the implementation of the Food and Drug Administration's 1997 feed ban. Human and animal health in the United States is protected by a system of interlocking safeguards, which ensure the safety of U.S. beef. The most important of these safeguards is the ban on specified risk materials from the food supply and the FDA's ruminant-to-ruminant feed ban.
In addition to the carcass, federal agriculture officials located a six-week-old calf belonging to the BSE positive animal. The calf has been quarantined and is being moved to NVSL for further observation.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_ ... 3-06.shtml
ILL give you three guesses and the first two dont count on what Johanns et al will say...
1
2
everything o.k., looks good, we are going to continue to have a few cases here and there, continue trade, and the BSE MRR policy of trading all strains of BSE/TSE globally lives on. ...TSS
:help:
8. Feb. 27, 2006 – A veterinarian observes possible BSE symptoms in Alabama cross-bred beef cow. She's ordered killed for testing in early March, with BSE confirmed March 11 at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory. The carcass, which had been buried at the farm, is removed for further testing and disposal. The ongoing investigation apparently made no progress last week with multiple auction sales records search and potential farm locations being sampled for genetic matches to the BSE cow.
9. April 12, 2006 – A veterinarian orders test of Holstein cow with physical symptoms at farm near Chilliwack, B.C. Positive screening test followed by national laboratory test confirm BSE. All of the carcass recovered and kept out of animal or human food chains
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Traceout on Canada BSE cow moves quickly
Tam Moore
Capital Press Staff Writer
Veterinarians in Canada cut to the chase this week, checking feed sources for a Holstein cow confirmed to have bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The animal, euthanized last week after showing signs of BSE, was quickly traced to her birth farm.
"The producer has just excellent records," said George Leuterbach, a Canadian Food Inspection Agency veterinarian.
Speaking by phone from a field office in British Columbia, Leuterbach said investigators moved to feed mills April 18 after getting detailed information from the birth farm. Another team sought disposition of two older offspring of the BSE cow, and identified all cattle born within one year of the BSE cow.
BSE is a rare and fatal cattle disease first scientifically described Britain in 1986. It is popularly called mad cow disease because of erratic gait and behavior of cattle as their brain tissue deteriorates.
The 6-year-old animal was part of a dairy near Chilliwack, B.C., a Fraser Valley town east of Vancouver. She was a purebred, owned by the dairy for the past year. Leuterbach said she was born and spent the first five years of her life at a nearby dairy farm.
He did not identify either farm, but said they are both "well-known" in the Fraser Valley.
For the CFIA, that quick trace is prelude to a mystery yet to be solved: Where is Canada's BSE coming from? The theory in previous cases, with the exception of a British-born animal diagnosed in 1993, is that contaminated feed – contaminated with protein from central nervous system tissue or organs known to concentrate the BSE-causing agent – is given to a calf.
That's the basis for bans on feeding protein derived from ruminant animals to other ruminant animals. Both Canada and the United States began bans in 1997.
This marks the first native-born Canadian BSE case not linked with a cluster of BSE confirmations centered on Alberta, the Canadian province with the largest cattle population.
Hugh Lynch-Staunton, president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, told Reuters he suspected some of the B.C. feed will turn out to be from Alberta. He also said finding another BSE case shouldn't be a surprise.
Canada's first case in 2003 had an after-the-fact British Columbia connection that Leuterbach said isn't relevant to this investigation.
In that first case, the carcass was rendered into poultry feed before the routine BSE test was made. In tracing out where the feed went, the CFIA found a B.C. poultry farm where cattle grazing next to the hen house could possibly have eaten spilled chicken feed. Leuterbach said in this case, the B.C. BSE cow was born in April 2000.
What interests feed investigators, he said, is content of rations in the first year of a calf's life. That includes how mills mixed formulations and were cleaned between running specific formulations.
Leuterbach told the Globe and Mail he suspects "a small amount or residual contamination" existed after the feed ban.
Chuck Strahl, Canada's minister of agriculture, said late last week that more cases of the rare disease can be expected.
"We are likely going to have the odd recurring case for some time," Strahl said.
The CFIA recently published preliminary rules tightening its ruminant feed ban. They've yet to take effect. A CFIA news release this week said the agency is "in the process of finalizing" details in the rule revision.
The U.S. government sent an investigation team to British Columbia early this week. They are under orders from Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns "to determine what, if any, impact this should have on our beef and live cattle trade with Canada."
Imports of selected steers and heifers, including feeder cattle, resumed in July 2005 after being suspended since May 2003. The USDA limited those imports to animals under 30 months old, on the theory that the average BSE case expresses itself at 60 months age and becomes detectable about one year before. A rule that would allow resumption of over-30-month-old cattle is under consideration by USDA officials.
The Globe and Mail and Reuters contributed to this report. Tam Moore is based in Medford, Ore. His e-mail address is [email protected].
http://www.capitalpress.info/main.asp?S ... M=48099.93
FINAL TESTING CONFIRMS BSE CASE IN B.C.
OTTAWA, April 16, 2006 -
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/cor ... 416e.shtml
USA ALABAMA BSE INVESTIGATION
April 19, 2006 - Sparks Welcomes Korean Delegation
MONTGOMERY- Commissioner Ron Sparks welcomed agricultural specialists from Korea who are here to learn about Alabama's cattle industry. The visit is the result of a renewed interest by Korea in importing US beef.
http://www.agi.state.al.us/press_releas ... ation?pn=2
Apr 13, 14, 17, 18, and 19, 2006 — There is nothing new to report and the investigation continues.
Apr 12, 2006
There is nothing new to report and the investigation continues. An updated flow chart has been posted below.
Flow chart
Apr 11, 2006
There is nothing new to report and the investigation continues.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_ ... date.shtml
March 31, 2006
There is nothing new to report today and the investigation continues. Also, USDA APHIS will not be posting updates over the weekend.
A flow chart has been posted below to illustrate the Alabama epidemiological investigation to date. It shows that the traceback has broadened from the index farm to include many farms and stockyards. These additional farms are where the index cow may have lived previously or where her immediate family members may have lived. The stockyards are places where investigators have reviewed records of transactions and conducted interviews. Each link to the index animal is being thoroughly examined and then, based on the information collected, the link will either continue on to another location or be closed. Flow chart
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_ ... _29_06.pdf
March 30, 2006
As of today, 14 locations and 44 movements of cattle have been examined with 39 of those being substantially completed. Additional investigations of locations and herds will continue. A location includes stockyards or farms where the index cow lived previously or where her immediate family members may have lived. The movements include any arrivals or departures from those locations.
March 29, 2006
As of today, 14 locations and 44 movements of cattle have been examined with 34 of those being substantially completed. Additional investigations of locations and herds will continue. A location includes stockyards or farms where the index cow lived previously or where her immediate family members may have lived. The movements include any arrivals or departures from those locations.
March 28, 2006
As of today, 14 locations and 44 movements of cattle have been examined with 32 of those being substantially completed. Additional investigations of locations and herds will continue. A location includes stockyards or farms where the index cow lived previously or where her immediate family members may have lived. The movements include any arrivals or departures from those locations.
March 27, 2006
As of today, 14 locations and 40 movements of cattle have been examined with 32 of those being substantially completed. Additional investigations of locations and herds will continue. A location includes stockyards or farms where the index cow lived previously or where her immediate family members may have lived. The movements include any arrivals or departures from those locations. Additional investigations of locations and herds will continue.
March 24, 2006
USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa matched the DNA of the carcass excavated in Alabama with the BSE positive sample from the index animal. The DNA will also be used to match suspected siblings and offspring found during the epidemiological investigation. The carcass of the index animal did not have any identification tags or tattoos.
A Canadian Food Inspection Agency and a Food and Drug Administration representative have been with the Alabama investigational team since last week and are assisting in the investigation.
The investigation is ongoing. Our next update will be posted Monday, March 27, 2006.
March 23, 2006
As of today, 13 locations and 32 movements of cattle have been examined with 27 of those being substantially completed. Additional investigations of locations and herds will continue. In addition, state and federal officials have confirmed that a black bull calf was born in 2005 to the index animal (the red cow). The calf was taken by the owner to a local stockyard in July 2005 where the calf died. The calf was appropriately disposed of in a local landfill and did not enter the human or animal food chain.
March 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22, 2006
Nothing to report.
March 17, 2006
Federal and state officials today learned that in early 2005 the BSE-positive cow gave birth to a black, bull calf. We are in the process of tracing this animal.
March 16, 2006
Today, officials with the state of Alabama and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have completed work at the farm in Alabama to recover the remains of the cow that tested earlier this week as positive for BSE.
Federal and state agriculture workers excavated the remains of the animal, which had been buried on the farm and did not enter the animal or human food chain, in accordance with USDA protocols. While the carcass matches the description provided by the owner, samples are being sent to USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) in Ames , Iowa to match DNA with the positive sample. The DNA will also be used to match suspected siblings and offspring found during the epidemiological investigation.
After further examination, experts confirmed through dentition that the animal was at least 10 years of age. This means the animal would have been born prior to the implementation of the Food and Drug Administration's 1997 feed ban. Human and animal health in the United States is protected by a system of interlocking safeguards, which ensure the safety of U.S. beef. The most important of these safeguards is the ban on specified risk materials from the food supply and the FDA's ruminant-to-ruminant feed ban.
In addition to the carcass, federal agriculture officials located a six-week-old calf belonging to the BSE positive animal. The calf has been quarantined and is being moved to NVSL for further observation.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/hot_ ... 3-06.shtml
ILL give you three guesses and the first two dont count on what Johanns et al will say...
1
2
everything o.k., looks good, we are going to continue to have a few cases here and there, continue trade, and the BSE MRR policy of trading all strains of BSE/TSE globally lives on. ...TSS
:help:
