The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is still looking for
cattle that were in the same herd as a cow that died in February with Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, or mad cow’s disease).
There were 750 cattle in that birth herd and many more were
in contact during feeding to market weights.
Canada’s trade status remains at “controlled risk” which
means some markets won’t take some beef from Canadian packers.
The aim is to return to “negligible risk” status Canada
enjoyed before the first case of BSE was identified in May, 2003. It was traced
to feed that came from a rendering plant.
Canada then clamped down on the parts of beef cattle that
can go into the food and feed chains.
This recent case came in the same herd that had another BSE
cow death in 2010, but it also came after the clamp-down on feeding rendered
materials.
The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association
says about 70 per cent of the birth cohort animals – those born between 2008
and 2010 at the Alberta farm - have now been identified.
About 14 per cent of those cattle are
still alive.
It's probably taking a long time for the CFIA to conduct this study because the Harper government has cut its budgets. Harper likes to talk about export opportunities for the beef sector, but fails to back it with adequate CFIA budgets.
