15th (Really 16th) Case of Mad Cow Disease in Canada

Yesterday, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed another case of the prion-generated disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (aka mad cow disease) since national surveillance began in 1992. The affected animal was a 7-year-old dairy cow from British Columbia, and investigators are currently tracing the animal's origin and herdmates. However, the agency assures the public in its standard mantra, "No part of the animal's carcass entered the human food or animal feed systems."

The latest case of BSE is the fourth identified so far this year in Canada. The CDC provides a graphic tally of BSE cases detected to date in North America, excluding the latest case.

BSE was first detected in Canada in 1993 in a UK-imported cow. Native-born cases were discovered beginning in 2003, and at least 10 cases (including the latest case) have occurred in Canadian dairy or beef cows born after the 1997 feed ban. The first American case of BSE was identified in 2003 in a Canadian-imported dairy cow in Washington State. US-born cows with BSE were reported in June 2005 (a 12-year-old dairy cow from Texas) and in March 2006 (an approximately 10-year-old beef cow from Alabama).

A more stringent feed ban was instituted in Canada last year, and the Canadian agency expects that BSE should be eliminated from Canadian cattle by 2017. In April of next year, an FDA-regulated enhanced feed ban in the United States will go into effect.