December 20, 2006

 

Canada's eighth BSE case most likely linked to feed

 

 

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has concluded its investigation into Canada's eighth case of BSE, found in a commercial beef cow on a farm in northern Alberta on Aug 9, and an official said the source of the BSE was most likely caused by feed ingredients.

 

Dr George Luterbach, a CFIA official, said "Worldwide, the most common route of the BSE agent is believed to be orally, or through the consumption of contaminated feed. While the CFIA cannot determine the farm of birth, and therefore can not speak about the feed, nevertheless, the most common assumption is that the animal in question was exposed to the BSE agent before the feed ban was introduced or during the implementation of the feed ban in Canada."

 

Luterbach said animals are the most susceptible to the BSE agent during their first year of life, and because the cow in question was approximately eight to 10 years of age, it was likely exposed to the BSE agent through feed before the ban.

 

No part of the carcass entered the human food supply or animal feed chain, a separate CFIA release said.

 

Upon discovery of the BSE infected cow, the CFIA immediately initiated an epidemiological investigation based on the most recent World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) recommended BSE guidelines. Specifically, the CFIA investigated:

 

The birth cohort (all cattle born in the same herd as, and within 12 months of the birth of the BSE-positive animal); the feed cohort (all cattle which, during their first year of life, were reared with the BSE positive animal during its first year of life, and which investigation showed consumed the same potentially contaminated feed during the period); and feed to which the animal may have been exposed early in its life.

 

The animal investigation found that the positive cow was a Charolais crossbred estimated as approximately eight to 10 years of age at the time of death by examination of her dentition.

 

The herd on the index premises had been assembled since 2001, including the purchase of the index case. The positive cow was therefore purchased within the previous five years and was not born at the index premises.

 

The index farm was a commercial cow-calf operation. The index animal was a purchased addition and there was no evidence that any members of its birth or feed cohort were also present on the index premises.