The mad cow disease has resurfaced again after a gap of almost four years. Soon after Canada announced on Sunday a case of mad cow disease, US government officials swooped into action and were desperately trying to locate a shipment that was delivered to US from the same Canadian herd as an animal infected with mad cow disease.
However, US officials said they are not very sure whether the imported cow was affected by the disease. The incident comes when US was planning to lift the ban on Canadian cattle. Bans on Canadian cattle and beef since the first case have cost farmers an estimated C$5 billion ($4 billion).
The infected cow was born in the same herd, within one year, of a cow shipped to the US in February 2002 for immediate slaughter, US officials said.
In Canada, investigators identified 93 dairy and 48 beef animals that were born in the year before through the year after the infected cow was delivered in October 1996. Investigators are trying to trace all 141 animals, including the one shipped to the US.
However, Canadian officials said: “It is extremely unlikely that this imported cow would have been infected. Nonetheless, the department is making every reasonable effort to obtain and provide information about the disposition of this animal as well as any other birth cohorts that are traced to the US through Canada's epidemiological investigation.”
