Six animals were identified with a strain of the disease
never before known to be in Canada after the alarm was sounded in September
last year. That came after an Alberta cow sent to a packing plant in the United
States tested positive.
The follow-up has cost taxpayers millions of dollars, has
disrupted operations on scores of ranches in Alberta and Saskatchewan and is
still not entirely over.
Two premises remain under quarantine. One had its cattle
mingling with the one herd where the disease was found in six cattle. It only
needs to complete cleaning and disinfection to qualify for release from
quarantine.
The other is a farm or ranch that took in cattle from the
place that was infected. That was a large operation spread over six premises;
11,500 cattle were slaughtered under the supervision of the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency.
Earlier this fall the CFIA began inspecting 71 premises that
sold cattle to the one that turned up with the disease.
So far 52 of them have been cleared and the remainder are
likely to be cleared as soon as test results become available.
