It's Official

[kato]

USDA just announced that it's a Canadian cow.

[ALICIA]

yes but they also said know we have to determen just where she got the BSE. They are going to work at trying to find out if she had it before or got it after.
I know one thing that mineral block we where talking about 7months ago Smart lik is made in the US. I'm still useing it, so we are all conected

[cakadu]

Tests confirm mad cow came from Canada
January 6, 2004
Associated Press/Reuters
WASHINGTON -- Agriculture officials were cited as saying Tuesday that genetic testing confirms that the cow diagnosed with the first U.S. case of mad cow disease was born in Canada.
Dr. Ron DeHaven, the Agriculture Department's chief veterinarian, was cited as saying the DNA tests on the cow, on one of its offspring and on the semen from the cow's sire, as well as records that show the cow came from a dairy farm in Alberta, make "us confident in the accuracy of this traceback."
Brian Evans, a Canadian agriculture official, was cited as saying that independent testing from a Canadian lab agreed.
Evans was further cited as saying that while no links have been found between the recent case and the previous Canadian case, investigators now will focus on looking for common sources of feed, adding, "We have not got sufficient evidence to make any feed link between the two farms."
Canadian Agriculture Minister Bob Speller was cited as telling a news conference Tuesday that the Canadian cabinet approved increased spending on measures designed to better survey and track the cattle industry as part of a campaign to combat mad cow disease. He gave no further details.
The announcement prompted the U.S. beef industry to renew its call for resumption of international trade in American beef. More than 30 countries banned imports of U.S. beef after the Dec. 23 announcement.
At the same time, the Canadian government said it would begin an international marketing campaign for Canadian beef, banned after the May discovery. Canadian Agriculture Minister Bob Speller was quoted as saying, "We believe that we can go around the world and tell people we have a safe commodity." Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., also asked for speedy implementation of "country-of-origin" labeling on most meat and produce that would clearly identify meat from animals that were born, raised and slaughtered in the United States.
DeHaven, however, refused to say that the mad cow problem belongs to Canada, saying that the highly integrated cattle industries in both countries produced cross-border sales of live animals and animal products of more than $2 billion last year, adding, "It's a North American issue. Has been. Continues to be."
Evans was cited as saying Canada is a "minimal-risk nation" for mad cow disease and beef-buying countries should not overreact to evidence linking Canada to a new case of the fatal disease, adding, "Finding of an additional case, given the size of our (cattle) population, is fully well below the threshhold to be considered a minimal-risk country."
Evans was referring to standards written by the World Organization for Animal Health, based in Paris and known under its French abbreviation, OIE. The guidelines help determine what restrictions, if any, are appropriate for a country's livestock and meat exports.
Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin was cited as saying he will press for the reopening of the American market to Canadian beef when he meets next week with U.S. President George Bush at a summit in Mexico, adding, "The problems that have to be dealt with are the same on both sides of the border. Canada has acted very quickly, has taken very significant action, has, in fact, paved the way and that has to be recognized."



Hmm, no mention of North American beef trade has to be resumed - just American. It only became a North American issue when the case was found down there. Someone said in another thread - and I agree - it doesn't matter where she came from, she was there when they found it.

I wonder what the common link is going to be for the two cows here? Instead of more answers, we just keep coming up with more questions.

[cowman]

Well at least we can now put the " where did she come from" to bed. She came from Canada.
Now where did she get the feed that they say gave her the disease? Canada or the USA? The science says Canada.
So lets get on the wagon and try to find out where. Lets find out how many more cows might have eaten this feed, get them traced and get them killed.

[rsomer]

The significance of this cow coming from Canada cannot be underestimated. We can no longer use the term "single case of BSE". One positive cow might not have been connected to feed as it is known that CJD occurs naturally in the human population at the rate of 1 in one million population. If one were to assume that prion disease occurred spontaneously in the cow herd at the same rate we could have been looking at an isolated problem. I don’t think we can say that any more.
The focus now is on tracking down the source of infection and determining the extent of the BSE problem. If the source and destination of potentially infected feed can be determined it goes without saying that the distribution of the feed would be widespread. It is logical to assume that a large number of herds potentially will be depopulated if a source of infected feed is found and traced forward to end users.
The significance to the United States that this came from Canada cannot be underestimated either. They now qualify as being free of BSE and I expect the USDA to make an official announcement to that effect in the near future.
As for trade in Canadian live cattle...We are now in an election year in the U.S. and that is going to be the number one factor in the U.S. response to reopening trade with Canada. The U.S. has disallowed downer cows from being slaughtered at federally inspected plants which should help ensure that the U.S. does not get another positive BSE test at least before this November’s elections. Given the results of the last presidential election every Electoral College vote is very important, as a result Bush and Veneman will be especially sensitive to voters everywhere including key beef producing regions. I see that the U.S. will "manage" imports of Canadian beefnot to ensure food safety but so as to support American beef producers whose markets have had a temporary setback. Once Japan and other important U.S. export markets reopen their borders to American beef the U.S. will be forced to accept more shipments from Canada as their feedlots are very current and the U.S. administration will need to "manage" retail beef prices before election time. I see Japan reopening its borders in late February, early March with the U.S. accepting more beef from Canada within a month after that.
It is interesting to note that 2004 is likely to be an election year in Canada too but, frankly, no one gives a damn.

[kato]

I'm not so sure about the US keeping a BSE free status. Back when we had that British cow in 93, we had to track down all progeny, and all the other imported cattle, and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that we had gotten every single one. I don't see how the Americans can do that. The numbers are just too large.

Whether they get BSE free status is totally dependant on the mood of the countries that import their meat. I don't see any of them jumping up and volunteering. There are more than a couple of people in the world who would like to stick it to the States, and this could be their big chance.

Whether our buddies down south like it or not, they are in the same boat as us. Best thing now is to work together on this.

[kato]

Was just checking the international news, and found Japan is also having an election, probably on July 11.

Looks like politicians every where are on the block. Let the games begin!

[rodb]

If the USA is going to declare that it is free of BSE, would it not have to eliminate all Canadian cattle from its system?
As well as tracking down all those Canadian cattle that they have no idea of where they are or would they stonewall as they did in 1993 when we had our one imported case in 1993?

It is also interesting about Senator Daschle and COOL. They have no idea how many Cdn cattle or location of said to prove that what they are labeling is USA, Cdn or Mexican.