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Non-Tech : Farming -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jon Koplik who wrote (159)	6/3/2003 4:18:30 PM
From: johnlw	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4451

Mad-cow tests fail to pinpoint birth farm By ALLISON DUNFIELD Globe and Mail Update UPDATED AT 3:54 PM EDT Tuesday, Jun. 3, 2003 globeandmail.com DNA analysis intended to pinpoint the birthplace of a cow infected with mad-cow disease was "inconclusive," officials said Tuesday — meaning that cattle producers will likely have to wait even longer for a beef ban on Canadian meat to be lifted, and more cows will have to be slaughtered. "The DNA analysis has not returned a definitive finding," said Brian Evans, chief veterinary officer of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, at a briefing in Ottawa Tuesday. Mad-cow disease has been confirmed so far in Canada in that one cow on May 20. Tests have been trying to identify where the sick cow was born. Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief told the House of Commons Tuesday that investigators have determined more testing is required. It will take another three or four days before those results are known, he said. Before the United States agrees to re-open the border to Canadian beef officials will need the results of those tests, Mr. Vanclief said during Question Period. Dr. Evans said Tuesday that the possibility that scientists would not be able to isolate the cow's birthplace was known all along, because the officials did not have complete genetic material or breeding records for all of the herd sires used in the past several years. Although officials are convinced that the positive cow was from one of a primary line of farms being investigated, because the DNA test was inconclusive about 650 cows belonging to the "second line" of five Alberta farms being investigated will now have to be slaughtered, to clear them of the possibility of having the disease. Four farms in the primary line are also being investigated. CFIA officials did receive some good news in that nearly 800 of the 1,160 cows slaughtered thus far have tested negative for the brain-wasting disease formally called bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). "Today, we received further negative results which extend our findings to the second herd in Saskatchewan in its entirety ... we also now have partial negative results on one of the farms in Alberta and three of the premises in B.C.," Dr. Evans said. A total of 14 farms in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia are still under quarantine as part of the investigation. Industry officials, meanwhile, want the borders opened as soon as possible. Cindy McCreath, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Cattlemen's Association in Calgary, told globeandmail.com Tuesday that the association's "main focus is on getting borders reopened." The cattle industry is looking at several options to get the borders at least partly reopened. One of the options, which would have to be approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is to allow beef younger that 22 months to cross the border, Ms. McCreath said. BSE does not manifest itself in animals under 22 months and would include veal as well as the "majority of slaughtered cattle in Canada," she said. Beef producers are also awaiting some sort of aid package for those who have lost money, she said. "Discussions are taking place," between federal and provincial officials. Ms. McCreath said that, in terms of export losses, the industry is losing between $10-million and $11-million a day. Opposition MPs demanded to know when the Liberal government will provide compensation to farmers affected by mad-cow disease and the closed border. Mr. Vanclief said federal officials are working with the Canadian Cattlemen's Association and all those affected to come up with solutions. But he offered no concrete answers. "The best compensation for our industry is an open border between Canada and the United States and that is our primary concern," Mr. Vanclief said during Question Period. Meanwhile, a team of mad-cow experts will visit Canada by the end of this week to examine the country's response to the disease and to try to pinpoint how the single cow fell ill.