OTTAWA: The detection of another case of mad cow disease in Canada may compel the US to shut its border to Canadian beef. A bovine diseases expert sent here by the US Agriculture Department (USDA) said the dead animal tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE.
The latest case is the 9th since May 2003 when a cow in Alberta tested positive forcing Washington to abandon meat trade entirely between the two countries. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed that the mature bull was found to be suffering from BSE. The bull was listed as “animal of interest” in a surveillance program.
OS officials said it was too soon to say whether the new finding would prompt Washington to ban beef trade with Canada, although US farm groups have increased pressure on the USDA.
The CFIA's senior veterinarian Dr George Luterbach said the Canadian authorities are investigating whether other cattle had been raised on the same contaminated feed as the bull, in its first year of life.
Experts say the more important thing in BSE, is to avoid cattle fed commercial feeds that may be contaminated. The disease begins to form in the first year of the animal's life. The disease is caused by giving feeds that combine antibiotics, hormones and 'protein supplements' which are essentially produced from cattle remains. This animal component of their feeds triggers an infectious agent resulting into a rare brain-wasting disease in these herbivorous animals.
The feeds blamed for BSE infection are also known to contain pesticides and fertilizers. The infected bull probably belonged to the same cattle stock as the Aberta cow detected in 2003, some local farmers suggested.
Canada initiated safeguards in 1997 with a ban on using cattle remains in feeds in a bid to prevent or control further incidence of the disease. In 2006, Canadian authorities had reported a total of 5 BSE cases.
Experts have warned that humans are vulnerable to a variant of the disease – Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease possibly transmitting between animals and humans, which had killed 157 people in the UK.
