And again.......
Feed purchased after ban, rancher of BSE cow says
INNISFAIL, ALTA. - A BSE-infected cow ate a nutritional supplement purchased a year after the feed ban, the rancher of the diseased cow said Thursday, raising speculation that the feed could be the cause of Canada's third case of mad cow disease.
Innisfail producer Wilhelm Vohs also said there were 104 calves from his farm that would have had access to that feed. Seventy of those went to feed lots, he said, and 34 were used for breeding purposes.
Vohs said he'd purchased the feed in 1998 at an outlet in central Alberta. He said he usually used homegrown feed but was looking for something that would give his calves better performance.
"I bought that feed in good faith," Vohs said. "Did I have any concern? No, I did not."
It hasn't been determined what caused Vohs's cow to be infected with BSE. The feed supplement in question has been turned over to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Dr. George Luterbach from the CFIA said while the feed is being studied as a possible source of the infection, there could be another explanation.
"A theoretical possibility is the transmission from a mother, late in the disease, to her offspring," said Luterbach.
Vohs said the animal was behaving normally until the period between Christmas and New Year's.
Vohs said his cow was investigated for BSE after it slipped and had problems getting up. After a veterinarian was called, the cow was put down and tested, resulting in a positive BSE result.
The animal did not enter the food chain, he said.
Vohs worried what impact the discovery of BSE on his farm will have on his future.
"Who is going to buy bulls from me?" he wondered. "Even though I don't think I did anything wrong -- I haven't been accused of anything, either. Where does your future lie now?"
A number of U.S. politicians want their government to stop the reopening of the border to Canadian cattle this March in the wake of this recent case of mad cow.
cbc.ca
JW |
