Why BSE Isn't Going Away

Further evidence that humans are doomed by our own stupidity...


BSE-infected cow may have gotten into animal feed

from: http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/10/01/bse_041001.html

Last Updated Fri, 01 Oct 2004 14:20:24 EDT

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. Documents obtained through Access to Information 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.

In 1997, the federal government banned the practice of allowing cattle to be ground up and fed back to other cattle, because it could spread bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

By the time BSE was confirmed in the suspect cow, it had already been made into feed. 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.

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.

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.