Canada Confirms BSE Case
Information you can share with your customers
March 10, 2010 - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed its 17th case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a 72-month-old beef cow from Alberta. No part of the animal entered the human food or animal feed systems. CFIA’s BSE information is available online at: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/anima/heasan/disemala/bseesb/bseesbindexe.shtml.
The animal's birth farm has been identified, and an investigation is underway. The age and location of the infected animal are consistent with previous cases detected in Canada. This case was detected through Canada’s national BSE surveillance program, which continues to play an important role in Canada's strategy to manage BSE. The CFIA is conducting a full investigation based on the guidelines of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). The feed cohort, birth cohort and all feed to which the animal may have been exposed early in its life will be investigated.
Canada carries the same international BSE status as the United States. Both are categorized as Controlled Risk for BSE by the OIE. The U.S. and Canada currently have in place multiple and appropriate firewalls to protect animal and human health; and these firewalls have proven effective.
This disease is fast approaching eradication worldwide. Last year, there were just two cases of BSE diagnosed outside Europe (one in Canada and one in Japan) and just 60 cases total (compared to more than 37,000 in the United Kingdom alone during peak occurrence in 1992).
If you receive questions about U.S. animal health or human food safety from BSE, please refer to the key messages below or the BSE scientific resource at www.BSEInfo.org.
Funded by The Beef Checkoff
Experts in human and animal health agree that U.S. beef is safe from BSE because of the progressive steps taken by the U.S. government over the past two decades.
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Multiple preventive measures going back to 1989 have ensured that BSE would not become a serious animal or human health issue in this country.
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As America's cattle farmers and ranchers, our No. 1 priority is raising the safest beef possible. Our livelihood depends on it, and that's why we have worked with the government and top scientists for more than two decades to build, maintain and expand the BSE safeguards that protect our cattle and our consumers.
Because of the strong measures in place, the risk of BSE in the United States is approaching zero.
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The BSE risk in this country is extremely low, in part, because of a progressive series of strong actions taken by the U.S. government. Actions such as removal of materials that would most likely carry BSE, banning animals that show signs of the neurological disease and the effective feed ban ensure the very low risk of BSE in the United States.
o In addition to BSE cattle herd surveillance, USDA Public Health Veterinarians examine every single animal before processing and condemn those with any signs of illness.
o Since 1997 all tissues in which BSE infectivity is known to concentrate have been prohibited from ruminant feed, and since 2008, in all animal feed. Even in countries with a higher BSE risk, removing potential BSE infective material from feed prevents more than 99 percent of any potential BSE infectivity from entering the feed system.
o Since 2004, all tissues in which BSE infectivity is known to concentrate are removed from every animal processed for human consumption.
BSE is extremely rare in the United States and worldwide incidence has dramatically decreased.
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Over the past two decades, industry and government have worked together to put in place science-based measures which have proven successful in preventing and reducing the spread of BSE in the United States.
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USDA conducted an expanded BSE surveillance program from June 2004 to August 2006, and two atypical cases were identified, both of which were born prior to FDA’s 1997 feed ban. This verified that the risk of BSE in the U.S. cattle population is less than 1 case per million adult cattle.
o USDA has done BSE surveillance since 1990 at 40 times the OIE-recommended level for our country.
o USDA continues to conduct a robust BSE surveillance program of the U.S. cattle herd targeting cattle most at risk for BSE.
- The already low risk in this country, coupled with an effective feed ban supports the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis projections that, if BSE currently exists in the United States, it is extremely rare.
- Furthermore, the incidence of BSE worldwide has dramatically decreased due to the many measures put into place, including a series of interlocking safeguards and science-based mitigation practices.
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