By DAWN WALTON and KIM LUNMAN
Globe and Mail
May. 24, 2003
Calgary and Ottawa — Three farms in British Columbia were added to the mad-cow watch list yesterday, but federal officials said there is no evidence any cattle at the 13 farms now under quarantine have the deadly disease.
The B.C. farms were added to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's list because their owners bought chicken feed that contained remains of the Alberta cow infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Officials said none of that has been fed to cattle and, in any case, none of the cattle have been moved off those farms and into the human food chain.
"The investigation is advancing, but not the disease," Brian Evans, the chief veterinary officer of the CFIA, told a news conference in Ottawa. "Increasing numbers of herds under quarantine is a normal occurrence in an investigation of this kind."
Eight farms in Alberta and two in Saskatchewan are also under quarantine. Some quarantines could be lifted as soon as the possibility of other BSE infections is ruled out. But Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Clay Serby suggested Canada should err on the side of caution and slaughter every animal now in quarantine.
Tests are now complete on the herd from the infected cow's last home. Those cattle, belonging to farmer Marwyn Peaster, were destroyed, and the results should be released in days.
Officials continue to look at feed, both legally and illegally produced, as the source of the cow's infection.
But Bobby Accord, administrator of the United States Department of Agriculture's animal and plant health inspection services, said this week that it's going to be "almost impossible" to trace the cow's food history.
He hinted that could mean other animals have consumed bad food from an unknown source. Food is the primary mode of transmission of the brain-wasting disease.
Canadian officials aren't ruling out the possibility the cow was imported from a BSE-infected country or that the case may have arisen spontaneously. (Spontaneous development and transmission from mother to calf haven't been established by science.)
Paul Mayers, a spokesman for Health Canada, said there is no reason for Canadians to be worried about eating beef at this time. "To date, any risk related to human health remains low."
Dr. Evans didn't rule out a review of regulations governing the country's animal feed system, both of what can legally be fed to livestock and of how feed production is monitored.
Although inspections are made at Canada's feed mills and rendering plants, it is difficult for government officials to keep tabs on feed that is mixed on individual farms.
"The practice of mixing feed is historic, and again there is a level of oversight to that. But with as many farms as you have in the country, it becomes increasingly challenging to cover it," Dr. Evans said.
While the age (between six and eight years) and birthplace (possibly Saskatchewan or maybe Alberta) of the infected cow haven't been nailed down, officials said it could have consumed contaminated feed.
On Aug. 4, 1997, Canada outlawed the practice of feeding ruminants (such as cattle and sheep) to other ruminants. Grinding up cattle infected with BSE and feeding the remains to other cattle is the main cause of mad-cow disease. However, blood, gelatin, lard and tallow of ruminants are believed not to transmit the disease to animals and are permitted in cattle feed.
The CFIA said it is standard procedure to process animals sick with some diseases and churn them into feed for other animals. By the time a single animal's remains have been made into feed, it has been so heavily diluted with grain and other ingredients that the risk to animals and human health has also been diluted, the agency said.
But there's no guarantee that feed for cattle hasn't been contaminated with feed for other animals at a rendering plant or feed mill.
Alberta Agriculture Minister Shirley McClellan said she doubted there is widespread contamination of cattle feed or that ranchers would intentionally mix banned material.
"Most producers understand why we have the regulations, and they're not going to risk their herds," she told reporters in Edmonton yesterday.
Still, with the focus on feed as a likely source of Canada's first case of BSE in a decade, feed producers are anxious for answers and cautious about discussing the issue.
Christine Mercier, general manager of the Animal Nutrition Association of Canada, said few feed mills used ruminant material in cattle feed before 1997 (it wasn't cost-effective) and those that did generally used carcasses from North America, not from BSE-contaminated countries.
The approximately 500 commercial feed manufacturers in Canada are also rigorously monitored by the CFIA.
Larry Helfrich, marketing director of UNIBLOK Canada, said his family-operated feed mill in Rockyford, Alta., stopped using ruminants in 1997 to avoid the headache of the risk of cross-contamination.
"As far as our business and our company goes, it's a selling point for us too," he said. "There's the possibility of cross-contamination as well, and that's what some of these other feed mills are running into worry about."
Still, he figures the likelihood of contracting mad-cow disease through animal feed is low.
"Everyone knows what can and can't be used, and anyone would be stupid
to break the rules," he said.
© 2003 Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.