Canada has another case of mad cow disease

OTTAWA, Jan 2 (AFP) - Canada announced Sunday that a cow from the western province of Alberta had tested positive for mad cow disease -- but said the discovery should not quash plans to reopen the US border to its cattle exports.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the dairy cow was born in 1996, and it appeared that it was infected before new restrictions were introduced on animal feed in 1997 designed to cut down on BSE cases.
The agency said in a statement it had "today confirmed that an older dairy cow from Alberta has tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)."
Its discovery came after the United States said Thursday it would resume conditional imports of live Canadian cattle early next year, following a year-and-a-half hiatus caused by an earlier case of mad cow disease in Canada.
The restrictions hammered the politically potent Canadian beef industry, costing farmers billions of dollars and prompting the government to launch a rescue package last year.
Canadian and US officials have said that the confirmation of another case of mad cow disease north of the border, which was expected, should not affect the decision to lift restrictions on Canadian cattle.
The Food Inspection Agency said the no part of the infected animal had ever entered the food chain, and there was no increased risk to food safety.
"Confirming BSE in this animal is not unexpected," the agency said, pointing out that the case was a result of increased detection mechanisms and as an older beast, had already been discounted by US authorities.
"The United States continues to consider Canada as a minimal risk region. As stated in the United States Department of Agriculture press release of December 30th, 2004, the United States would not alter the implementation of its rule to resume trade with Canada."
The United States said on Thursday it would resume conditional imports of live Canadian cattle early next year, following a year-and-a-half hiatus caused by an earlier case of mad cow disease discovered in Canada.
The purchases will be subject to multiple restrictions, outlined in a 500-page manual, designed to to minimize the risk from BSE, a degenerative disease that can be dangerous to humans if tainted meat is consumed.
The ban on Canadian live cattle imports was slapped by the US administration in May 2003, after a previous case of mad cow disease was discovered in Alberta.
Canada has mounted a massive lobbying campaign to get the punishing restrictions lifted, most recently when President George W. Bush travelled to Ottawa for talks with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin in November.
Prospects for a quick resumption of the cattle trade were hit in December 2003, when a slaughtered cow, recently imported from Canada to the northwestern US state of Washington, was found to have mad cow disease.
Under new rules introduced to satisfy US concerns over Canadian cattle, imported animals must be slaughtered before they reach 30 months of age. They should have permanent marking specifying their origin and move in sealed containers to a feedlot or a slaughterhouse.
Canadian cattle will not be allowed to move to more than one feedlot while in the United States.

01/03/2005 01:54 GMT - AFP