January 10, 2005

Animal Linked To Canada Mad-Cow Case Sent To US

An animal born in the same herd and within one year of the Canadian cow that was recently confirmed to have bovine spongiform encephalopathy was sent in February 2002 to the U.S. for slaughter, a U.S. official said Friday.

Ron DeHaven, administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said, "USDA, in collaboration with FDA, is currently tracing the disposition of this animal and will provide further details as the investigation evolves."

BSE, also known as mad-cow disease, is believed to be spread between cattle through feed that contains infected ruminant material. The FDA banned the use of ruminant material in cattle feed in 1997.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, or CFIA, said earlier Friday that it is investigating 141 "birth cohorts," or cattle born in the same herd and within one year of the BSE-infected cow, many of which were likely slaughtered.

Both DeHaven and Paul Mayers, a food safety specialist with Health Canada, said Friday that it is rare to find more than one BSE case in the same herd.

"Even at the height of BSE infection in Europe and the U.K., it was extremely rare to have more than one animal in the same herd affected with BSE. Therefore, USDA believes it is extremely unlikely that this imported cow would have been infected," DeHaven said.

"Nevertheless, as was the case in May 2003, when Canada had its first case of BSE and a small number of birth cohorts were traced to the U.S., USDA will make 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 U.S. through Canada's epidemiological investigation," he said.

The USDA announced Dec. 29 its plan to lift the U.S. ban on Canadian cattle. A few days later, Canada confirmed the discovery of a new BSE case, but USDA officials said they will pursue the plan to lift the ban.

The ban is scheduled to be lifted March 7, but that effort is being sharply criticized by some U.S. lawmakers. The Senate and House Agriculture Committees are both scheduling hearings about whether to end the ban.