January 7, 2004

 

 

DNA Confirms US Mad Cow Came From Canada

 

Genetic testing confirms that the cow diagnosed with mad cow disease, the first case in the United States, was born in Canada, agriculture officials said.

 

The finding puts new emphasis across the border in the investigation of the North American outbreak of the brain-wasting disease. The Holstein, slaughtered in Washington state on Dec 9, is the second cow born in western Canada diagnosed with mad cow disease since May.

 

The test results mean investigators will intensify their search for the source of infection, most likely from contaminated feed, in Alberta, where the Holstein was born in 1997.

 

The DNA tests on the cow, on one of its offspring and on the semen from the cow's sire, as well as records that show the cow came from a dairy farm in Alberta, make 'us confident in the accuracy of this traceback', said Dr Ron DeHaven, the Agriculture Department's chief veterinarian.

 

Dr Brian Evans, chief veterinary officer of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, said independent testing from a Canadian lab agreed.

 

Canadian officials had announced last May that a cow in Alberta, also born in 1997, had been diagnosed with the disease.

 

While no links have been found between the two cases, investigators will now focus on looking for common sources of feed, Dr Evans said.

 

He added, 'We have not got sufficient evidence to make any feed link between the two farms.'

 

Canadian and US officials believe the cows were probably infected as calves in Canada because they were born before August 1997, when both countries banned the practice of giving cattle feed that contained parts of cattle, sheep or other cud-chewing animals.

 

'We now have a likely explanation and source for their infection,' Dr DeHaven said.

 

The announcement prompted the US beef industry to renew its call for resumption of international trade in American beef. More than 30 countries banned imports of US beef after the Dec 23 announcement.

 

At the same time, the Canadian government said it would begin an international marketing campaign for Canadian beef, banned after the May announcement.

 

'We believe that we can go around the world and tell people we have a safe commodity,' Canadian Agriculture Minister Bob Speller said. Speller said Canada would send trade missions to Mexico, South Korea and Japan to highlight Canada's efforts to prevent and control mad cow disease.

 

Both countries have been pushing for a change in international standards that would allow trade to continue after a limited outbreak of the disease.

 

But in Washington, some lawmakers said the DNA test was evidence that the US should keep in place a ban on importing cattle from Canada that was imposed after the Canadian mad cow case. US officials have been considering allowing the importation of younger Canadian cattle -- unlikely to have the disease because of its long incubation period.

 

But Dr DeHaven refused to say that the mad cow problem belongs to Canada. The highly integrated cattle industries in both countries produced cross-border sales of live animals and animal products of more than US$2 billion last year.

 

'It's a North American issue. Has been. Continues to be,' he said.