April 14, 2006

Canadian officials tests six-year-old cow for mad cow disease

Federal officials Thursday tested a British Columbia dairy cow for mad cow disease, sparking fears in a cattle industry still recovering from a two-year ban on their beef in the United States.

Preliminary results of the cow were positive for BSE.

The six-year-old cow was identified on a Fraser Valley farm through the national BSE surveillance programme.

If confirmed, it would be the fifth case in Canada since May 2003, and the second case of a cow born after 1997 contracting the disease. The US banned beef from Canada after a case was discovered in 2003. The age of the cow is crucial as 1997 is the year a ban was imposed on cattle feed laced with grounded cow parts that were supposedly causing the disease.

In a written statement, officials said the case would have not affect the safety of Canadian beef as no part of the animal entered the human food or animal feed systems.

Inspectors have tested roughly 100,000 animals since Canada's first case was detected in Alberta and have said they expect to find isolated cases of the disease.

The US allowed imports of live cattle younger than 30 months last July as they are believed to be at lower risk for the disease.

If the test is positive, it will represent not only a setback for the Canadian cattle industry but also US meatpacking companies who are eager to allow older Canadian cattle to be shipped to the United States.