Authorities on Wednesday confirmed that no part of the animal entered the human food or animal feed systems and its carcass is under CFIA control. According to preliminary information, the agency is speculating that the 5 1/2-year-old cow was infected during its first year of life.
AP reports that all other animals born around that time are kept under strict vigil to try to track down the source of the infection. Nine previous cases of mad cow, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, have been detected in Canadian cattle since May 2003.
The latest case of mad cow disease was identified at the farm level by the national surveillance program, which has detected all cases found in Canada. The program targets cattle most at risk and has tested about 160,000 animals since 2003.
If anyone consumes meat products contaminated with BSE, it can be fatal. There have been more than 150 human deaths from mad cow disease, mostly in Britain, from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a rare and nerve disease.
Canada has taken preventive measures to achieve the eventual elimination of BSE from the national cattle herd and also plans to launch an enhanced feed ban on July 12, 2007. The program plans to prevent more than 99 percent of potential BSE infectivity from entering the Canadian feed system.
