Published Date: 2003-05-22 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> BSE, bovine - Canada (Alberta) (02)
Archive Number: 20030522.1252
BSE, BOVINE - CANADA (ALBERTA) (02)
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A ProMED-mail post
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ProMED-mail, a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
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Date: 21 May 2003
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Reuters [edited]
<http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=2786061>
Canada Quarantines 2 More Farms Over Mad Cow Disease
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Canada, facing a potentially painful economic blow from its first case of
mad cow disease (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, BSE) in a decade, said
it had quarantined 2 more cattle farms as it tried to trace the origin of
the animal diagnosed with the disease.
A spokeswoman for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed the
2 farms had been isolated, but said she did not know where they were
located.
The crisis erupted Tuesday when officials said an 8-year-old cow from a
farm in northern Alberta had been diagnosed with the disease. The herd was
quarantined and will be destroyed.
Ottawa said it was confident it could contain the crisis and was trying to
reassure trading partners who have banned beef imports from Canada that the
situation was under control. "I think we will contain it quickly enough
that it will not have lasting effects," International Trade Minister Pierre
Pettigrew told CBC television. The United States, Australia, Japan, Taiwan,
and South Korea have all stopped Canadian beef imports. Pettigrew said he
had talked to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick Tuesday. "He
(Zoellick) of course volunteered to do everything he could within his
administration to make sure collaboration and cooperation between Canada and
the United States prevailed in this case. So we will make sure the embargo
is as limited as possible, as short-lived as possible," Pettigrew said.
"We will work with the Australians and the Japanese very closely, we will
inform them (of what we are doing), I will try to be on line with them
today...."
Alberta accounts for nearly 60 percent of Canada's beef production,
providing C$3.8 billion (US $2.8 billion) in annual farm cash receipts. In
2002, Alberta shipped more than half a million live cattle to the United
States.
Canadian officials are now awaiting results of probes on the origins of the
diseased animal. "We should know in a day or so, but we cannot speculate at
this time where the animal came from," Canada's Chief Veterinary Officer
Brian Evans told reporters in Paris. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Anne
Veneman conceded it could be difficult to trace where the animal had come
from.
Canadian Finance Minister John Manley said it was too early to say whether
the government would help cattle farmers.
Canada's only other case of brain-wasting bovine spongiform encephalopathy
was in 1993, but the animal was imported from Britain.
Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief stressed the animal had not entered the
food chain. "This must be kept in perspective. It's one cow out of 3.6
million animals that we slaughter a year in Canada," he told CBC radio.
[By David Ljunggren]
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[The present case was slaughtered on 31 Jan 2003 -- see ref. below.
According to several Canadian official documents, although the animal was
not showing any clinical signs compatible with BSE, the inspector felt the
animal was not well and did not pass it for human consumption on antemortem
inspection, so it was sent for slaughter. The animal became part of the
routine surveillance in Canada, which is sizable, and there was apparently
some backlog in the laboratory. When the animal tested positive, there was a
retest, and then in view of the importance of the finding, samples were sent
to Weybridge, UK, for confirmation. - Mod.TG/JW]
See Also
BSE, bovine - Canada (Alberta): confirmed 20030520.12412002
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BSE risk, chicken breasts - USA 20020731.4905
BSE? Sheep - USA (Vermont) 20020412.3937
2001
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Bovine feed contamination? - USA (Texas): NOT BSE 20010127.0195
2000
----
BSE, water buffalo - Canada ex Denmark 20000926.1664
BSE? sheep - USA (Vermont) (06) 20000724.1223
1998
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BSE/CJD (new var.), human fatality? - USA ex UK 19980529.1032
BSE, USDA risk assessment - USA 19980427.0803
BSE, tallow safety - USA (03) 19980420.0735
BSE: The Brain Eater, transcripts - USA 19980214.0289
1997
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BSE and feed ban - Canada (02) 19970210.0323
BSE and feed ban - Canada 19970203.0241
BSE FDA proposal - USA 19970105.0010
1996
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BSE - Canada 19960123.0165
BSE & cattle feed - USA 19960728.1345
..............................tg/pg/jw
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