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Canada Confirms 13th Case of Mad Cow Disease

Posted June. 25, 2008 07:13,   

한국어

Canada confirmed a new case of mad cow disease on Monday. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced through its homepage that a cow that died of mad cow disease was discovered in the western province of British Columbia.

This is the 13th confirmed case of mad cow disease in the country and the third in British Columbia since the first case was discovered in May 2003.

But the agency seeks to ward off any apprehension of the public, saying, “Under the surveillance program for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the cow infected with the disease didn’t enter the market and no part of the infected cow was used for animal feed. There is no health risk to humans or animals.”

The agency said the infected cow was found by the BSE surveillance program and a comprehensive probe was launched to determine where it was born.

“The animal died on a farm and after tissue samples were taken, the remains were disposed of,” Bloomberg quoted an agency veterinarian as saying.

“The discovery of the infected cow will not affect Canada’s BSE Controlled Risk Country status, which was declared by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) last year,” said the agency.

The OIE ruled Canada’s cattle slaughtering process and distribution system reliable, designating the country, along with the United States, as a BSE Controlled Risk Country last May.

After banning the supply of feed containing cattle tissue in 1997, Canada also banned the use of risky materials, including the brain and the backbone, in animal feed in 2003 when the first case of mad cow disease was confirmed.

To this, the Korean government said Tuesday, “There is no possibility that Canadian beef infected with mad cow disease has been imported into Korea.”

“The government banned the import of Canadian beef and related goods since May 2003 when a case of mad cow disease was found in Canada,” said the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and added, “When Canadian cattle is exported to the United States and raised there for more than 200 days, it is categorized as American cattle. But the United States has put in place rigorous quarantine inspection guidelines, so this poses no risk.”



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