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From: TSS (216-119-144-36.ipset24.wt.net)
Subject: FOIA SHOWS CANADA MAD COW IN MAY 2003 RENDERED AND FED BACK TO COWS
Date: October 1, 2004 at 2:20 pm PST
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: FOIA SHOWS CANADA MAD COW IN MAY 2003 RENDERED AND FED BACK TO COWS
Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2004 15:21:48 -0500
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr."
Reply-To: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
To: BSE-L@UNI-KARLSRUHE.DE
http://winnipeg.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=mb_bse20041001
Oct 1 2004 10:45 AM CDT
Cattle feed may have been infected with BSE
OTTAWA - The diseased cow that sparked Canada's mad cow crisis in May
2003 was turned into feed and may have been mistakenly fed to other
cows, CBC News has learned. * INDEPTH: Mad Cow Disease Documents obtained through the Access to Information Act show the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency had discovered cattle at a number of
farms were eating feed intended only for pigs and chickens. That feed
may have contained the rendered remains of the diseased cow. " Frequent
cross-contamination of feed " By law, cattle cannot be given feed made
from rendered cows, precisely because it could spread bovine spongiform
encephalopathy. The agency estimated that feed was sold to as many as
1,800 farms and launched an investigation. They visited 200 cattle
operations and found several cases where cows were exposed to the feed.
Three cattle farms were quarantined and 63 cattle destroyed. Inspectors
also learned there was frequent cross-contamination of chicken and
cattle feed, and in one case, the farmer admitted he routinely gave
chicken feed to cows. In 1997, the federal government banned the
practice of allowing cattle to be ground up and fed back to other
cattle. " Feed mix-ups common " The latest research shows just a
milligram of infected feed is needed to trigger BSE in a cow, said Neil
Cashman, professor of neurological disease at the University of Toronto.
According to Cashman, Canada should not be feeding any animals any
material rendered from a cow because feed mix-ups are so common. He adds
that the risk to humans is infinitesimal. Cattle remains are still used
as pig and chicken feed, but concerns about cross-contamination persist.
" Calls for immediate changes " In June of last year, a group of
international scientists urged Canada to stop recycling the most
potentially infectious parts of cows, like the spinal column and the
brain, into animal feed. The agency consulted industry, farmers, and
trading partners about such a ban, but nothing has been put in place,
says Sergio Taluso, spokesperson for the food inspection agency. One
lobby group argued changes must come now. "The only way to stop the
transmission is to stop recycling animal protein into herbivores," said
Mike McBain, of the Canadian Health Coalition. "And the [food inspection
agency] has refused to do that because it's waiting for the signal from
industry instead of intervening and telling industry what to do," said
McBain... TSS
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