The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced it has confirmed bovine spongiform encephalopathy in an 80-month-old dairy cow from Alberta.
In a statement, CFIA said no part of the animal's carcass entered the human food or animal feed systems.
This case was detected through the national BSE surveillance program. The animal's birth farm has been identified and an investigation is underway.
Canada remains a Controlled Risk country for BSE, as recognized by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). "Accordingly, this case should not affect exports of Canadian cattle or beef," the agency stated.
Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund (R-CALF), which has long opposed U.S imports of Canadian cattle for fear of BSE exposure, noted that this cow would have been born in 2002, making it the tenth BSE-positive cow in Canada young enough to be exported to the United States.
Since 2007, USDA has allowed imports of Canadian cattle over 30 months of age as long as they were born after March 1, 1999.
No comments:
Post a Comment