Canadian cow with BSE born after feed precautions

[February 19, 2015]  By Rod Nickel

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - A Canadian beef cow infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy was born on an Alberta farm in 2009, two years after the federal government imposed tougher animal feed restrictions, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said on Wednesday.

Canada confirmed its first case of BSE, also called mad cow disease, since 2011 on Friday. The CFIA has said no part of the animal reached the human food or animal feed systems.

BSE is a progressive, fatal neurological disease believed to be spread when cattle eat protein rendered from the brains and spines of infected cattle or sheep. Canada, the world's eighth-largest beef exporter, banned that practice in 1997.

The CFIA tightened feed rules further in 2007 and no cattle born after that date have been confirmed with BSE until now.

Canada's discovery of a case born after feed restrictions took effect is not unique among countries that have imposed similar measures after discovering BSE, said Paul Mayers, CFIA vice-president of policy and program.

The CFIA is investigating the cause and is not ready to slaughter and test other cows, Mayers said.

The March 2009 birth date also pushes back the earliest date Canada can apply to upgrade its international risk status by five years, to 2020, said Martine Dubuc, CFIA's vice-president of science. BSE risk status, set by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), is a factor in countries determining from which markets they buy beef.

OIE, based in Paris, requires countries to wait 11 years from the birth date of the most recent diseased cow to apply for upgraded status.

Canada's BSE risk status is currently 'controlled,' a notch below the United States, Australia, Brazil and other countries that have 'negligible' status.

South Korea on Saturday halted imports of Canadian beef as it seeks more information. Indonesia on Wednesday halted imports of non-edible byproducts, such as bone meal, from Canada, CFIA said.

It is thought the disease can be transmitted to people from food made from cows sick with BSE.

(Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Editing by Chris Reese and James Dalgleish)

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