Canada: Another Mad Cow Case

In its 15th case since 2003, Canada has confirmed another mad cow disease case. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said no part of the seven-year-old cow’s carcass from British Columbia entered the human food or animal feed systems, USAgNet reports.

Canada banned the use of animal products in cattle feed in 1997 because the products were considered the source of mad-cow infections. But the agency says some cases predating the new rules will continue to surface.

And in a new report, the country’s 13th case of the disease, involving a 61-month- old Holstein cow from a dairy operation in British Columbia, likely contracted the disease from commercial feed, according to a report by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

CFIA’s investigation of the case focused on both animals at the farm in question as well as feed products of which the BSE case animal had access. They found that while all feed products the animal was exposed to were intended for feeding to ruminants, some of the farm’s feed suppliers used prohibited material in preparing rations for nonruminant species and could have caused the BSE infection.

The World Organization for Animal Health categorizes Canada as a controlled risk BSE country. ❖