Canada's newest BSE case is 'feed related' says Ontario's chief vet

Thursday, February 19, 2015

by JIM ALGIE

A recently-identified Alberta cow with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was born two years after Canada began comprehensive limits on animal feed to block spread of the disease, Ontario’s Chief Veterinarian Dr. Greg Douglas said, Thursday.

As a result, international health of animals rules likely will delay Canada’s return to “negligible risk” status for BSE which had been expected in early 2016.

“This case is feed related,” said Douglas following an appearance before the annual meeting of Beef Farmers of Ontario.

Douglas and Ontario Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal both discussed BSE issues during appearances at the meeting in Toronto on Thursday. Leal was a scheduled speaker during the event’s second day at the International Plaza Hotel; Douglas followed the minister as a last-minute addition to the program.

The province’s chief veterinarian spoke after briefings late Wednesday by Alberta’s chief veterinarian and officials of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). A former CFIA veterinarian himself, Douglas was involved in investigations of the country’s first native-born case of BSE in 2003, also in Alberta.

Since CFIA announced the diagnosis last week, federal inspectors have quarantined two northern Alberta farms implicated in the case. As well, both South Korea and Indonesia have temporarily suspended beef trade with Canada.

Found with symptoms of the neurological disease on a farm near Sprucedale Alberta, the Angus cow involved was born on a different northern Alberta farm in March of 2009, Douglas told the meeting. CFIA has launched a detailed investigation of feed sources on both farms, he said.

“This is Canada’s 19th case of BSE, the important thing is this is the first case that was born after the enhanced feed ban in 2007,” Douglas said.

“It’s not unexpected with countries that have implemented feed bans. We have seen some cases after the feed ban,” he said.

Officials expect to trace all other animals in both the “birth and feed cohort” of the identified animal. Post-mortem testing on brain tissue of the infected cow at a federal government laboratory in Lethbridge confirmed it had classical BSE.

Classical BSE can be distinguished from other forms of the disease through brain tissue analysis and results when animals consume prion-infected tissues. Prions are misshapen proteins which, when ingested, can cause other proteins to change shape, Douglas said.

“It builds up in the neurological tissues in a cow and she starts to show neurological symptoms eventually over the course of four or five years,” he said.

Feed controls introduced in 2007 and related surveillance were adopted in Canada to avoid potential consumption of prion-infected material by livestock by excluding suspect material – mainly bone and meat additives – from the livestock food chain.

Asked later how an animal born after the feed ban could have been infected, Douglas said only the current investigation can tell.

“I don’t think there’s an explanation,” he said in the interview. “That’s part of the reason to have an investigation and look at the records.”

“The next steps now are to do a complete feed investigation,” he said. “Now it’s a matter of figuring out where that feed came from, whether it was old feed, if it was an on-farm situation or it came from somewhere else.”

For his part, Agriculture Minister Leal expressed faith in the safety of Ontario beef and in Canada’s detection systems for BSE.

“This case shows Canada’s detection system is working,” Leal told the meeting. “It is important to note this is an isolated case, and there are currently no reported cases in Ontario,” he said.

Leal expressed “full confidence in Ontario’s cattle herds” and in Ontario’s “robust” food safety system.

Canadian Cattlemen’s Association government relations manager John Masswohl expressed confidence in a Thursday interview that trade suspensions by both South Korea and Indonesia will be temporary.

“The scenario with Indonesia is very similar to what it was with the case in 2011,” Masswohl said. He was referring to Canada’s most recent case of BSE in an animal born in 2004, three years before the comprehensive feed ban. Indonesia’s trade suspension in 2011 was lifted as soon as that country’s animal health officials received detailed briefings on the CFIA investigation at the time, Masswohl said.

Current World Health of Animals Organization rules for “negligible risk” status require a delay of 11 years following the birth date of the last reported animal diagnosed with BSE. Considering the current animal’s birth date in 2009, current rules would push back the change in status to 2020.

However, Masswohl said the case may not necessarily add a full 11 years to the waiting period that would qualify Canada for “negligible risk” status for BSE.

Currently identified as a “controlled risk” country, Canada had been preparing to seek “negligible risk” status as early as next spring.

Masswohl said the quick evolution of scientific inquiry into prion diseases may lead to changes in international rules.

“I wouldn’t prejudice what policy evolution there may be and what science may say over the next few years,” Masswohl said of the 11-year waiting period. BF