August 29, 2006

Canadian authorities say mad cow case likely caused by feed ban violation

Canadian authorities investigating the case of mad cow disease in a dairy cow discovered on Jul 13 conceded the animal probably contracted the disease due to a contaminated batch of feed.  

The animal, about 50 months of age, was born years after a feed ban was imposed.

The investigation revealed that an incident documented may have resulted in the contamination of a single batch of cattle feed with contaminated material.

The batch of feed was sent to a single farm and most likely caused the infection, according to a statement from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Two feed companies received contaminated materials from the same rendering plant involved in previous infections.

Of the 170 animals given the feed, 113 have died or been slaughtered while 8 could not be traced. The rest were either culled or quarantined.