BSE Confirmed in Alberta, Canada

February 11, 2007 - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed on February 7 the diagnosis of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a mature bull from Alberta. The animal's carcass is under CFIA control, and no part of it entered the human food or animal feed systems.

Preliminary information indicates that the age of the animal falls well within the age range of previous cases detected in Canada under the national BSE surveillance program. This signifies that the animal was exposed to a very small amount of infective material, most likely during its first year of life.

An epidemiological investigation directed by international guidelines is underway to examine what the animal was fed early in its life and to identify its herdmates at the time. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Mike Johanns visited with Canada's Minister of Agriculture, Chuck Strahl, who welcomed the United States' participation in the investigation. A USDA expert was dispatched to Canada for that purpose.

"Based on what is known at this time, I would not expect this Canadian detection to impact our trade with Canada," said Johanns. "Regarding the proposed minimal risk rule that specifies additional movement of cattle and beef into the United States, we remain in an open comment period until March 12, 2007. While the risk assessment for the proposed rule factors in the possibility of additional cases, the open comment period allows for consideration of additional information that might result from this investigation."

Under Canada's enhanced feed ban, which comes into effect on July 12, 2007, BSE should be eliminated from the national cattle herd within approximately 10 years. The CFIA expects the periodic detection of a limited number of cases to continue as the level of BSE continues to decline.

The finding of a mature animal should not impact Canada's BSE country categorization submission to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). The science-based BSE risk-level determination process requires that a country is able to demonstrate a full understanding of the pathways that resulted in BSE exposure and expression, as well as the implementation of appropriate comprehensive measures to block those pathways and protect human and animal health, leading to the eradication of the disease over time.

The animal was identified at the farm level by the national surveillance program, which has detected all cases found in Canada. The program targets the highest risk cattle populations and has tested roughly 150,000 animals since 2003. The surveillance results reflect an extremely low incidence of BSE in Canada.


Render