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- SASKATOON (CP) - Nearly 70
cattle have dropped dead in a field in south-central Saskatchewan and no
one can figure out why. Lab tests have ruled out all infectious diseases
including anthrax, which has recently killed several cattle in Manitoba.
"It's perplexing, I think it's unlikely that we'll ever know definitively,"
Dr. Eugene Janzen of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine said Tuesday.
"These catastrophic losses in one field are very, very rare."
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- The dead cattle were found Friday [August 18, 2000] in
a 120-hectare communal pasture near Meyronne, a town of 47 people in south-central
Saskatchewan.
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- Another 150 cattle in the same field had no noticeable
injuries or illness. A team of veterinarians from the University of Saskatchewan
visited the site Monday and took specimens from 61 cows and eight calves.
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- They ruled out starvation since grass was plentiful in
the field. There was also plenty of water which originated from the same
source as the town drinking supply. Most of the dead animals were dehydrated,
but Janzen isn't sure why. Lightning sometimes kills several cattle at
once if they are huddled together, but the carcasses were scattered throughout
the field. Foul play or poisoning would also be nearly impossible to time
so that all 69 died on the same day, Janzen said. "There are not a
whole lot of other possibilities," he said.
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- Farmers Calvin Gavelin and Norm Bouvier, who each owned
about 30 of the dead cattle, say they have never seen anything like this
before. "It's so sad. It was a little like losing family," said
Gavelin. "We don't know what's happened out there, but we're relieved
that no more cows are dying."
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- At $1,500 to $2,000 per cow, it's also a significant
financial blow. Neither farmer's insurance will cover the loss. Scott
Brown of Saskatchewan Agriculture said provincial assistance won't be considered
until the investigation is complete.
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- Veterinarians will continue their investigation but it's
unclear whether they will find any more clues. Janzen said the fact the
cattle weren't analysed until several days after their death makes things
extremely difficult.
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- "The evidence is a little bit like footprints in
the snow," he said. "The footprints have melted and we're trying
to put together a story."
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- © The Canadian Press, 2000 _____
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- Saskatchewan Reviews Shared-Pasture Program After 69
Cattle Drop Dead
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- SASKATOON (CP) - The Saskatchewan government launched
a review of its community pasture system Wednesday after 69 cattle died
mysteriously last week. Most of the dead beasts were found near the fenced
borders of the 120-hectare field near the village of Meyronne in south-central
Saskatchewan.
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- "This loss is not acceptable in our view and we
want to make sure that our practices wouldn't allow another occurrence
of this nature to develop," said Ernie Spencer, Saskatchewan's deputy
agriculture minister.
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- "We will determine whether we are looking at the
cattle often enough (and) whether there are ways we can improve our management
of the pasture."
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- The dead cattle were all dehydrated when found Friday
by a seasonal government employee hired to monitor the pastures. The carcasses
had likely been drying in the sun for two or three days at that point.
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- Diseases such as anthrax have been ruled out as a possible
cause. Spencer said analysis of cow brains showed no unusual results.
There were also no poisonous plants in the field, he said.
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- More than 100 cattle in the same pasture survived and
most were "gaunt," Spencer said. Despite signs indicating a lack
of water in the field, the government worker and the pasture manager have
both told officials the watering system was working and the cattle had
plenty to drink. They added that the herd appeared fine when they checked
it four days earlier. The watering system in the pasture originates from
the same source of drinking water used by several area farms.
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- The review of the Meyronne cow deaths should be complete
in the next week or two, but the community pasture review will take a couple
of months, Spencer said. "We are going to continue to look for the
causes of this particular loss, but I think we can begin an overall review
of the (pasture) program to ensure any kind of disasters don't occur in
the future," Spencer said.
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- There are roughly 50 community pastures on Crown grazing
land in Saskatchewan. Cattle owners pay a fee to the provincial government,
which manages and waters the cattle. The program has been in place since
the 1920s.
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- Over half of the farmers using community pastures contribute
to a voluntary group insurance plan and are compensated for losses. The
Meyronne farmers opted not to insure their livestock, so will not be compensated
unless the government was negligent in the animals' care. Farmers Norman
Bouvier and Calvin Gavelin each estimate losses of about $50,000.
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- © The Canadian Press, 2000 _____
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- Anthrax Blamed For Cattles Deaths In Manitoba, Alberta,
Ontario, North Dakota
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- WINNIPEG (CP) - More than 20 cattle are dead on five
farms in Manitoba and 17 farms in North Dakota have also lost cattle in
the worst outbreak of anthrax in the region in at least 20 years.
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- "The disease kills animals within 12 hours,"
said Dr. George Luterbach, a Canadian Food Inspection Agency veterinarian.
Flooding due to heavy rains, followed by high humidity, appears to be the
likely cause of the outbreak, activating anthrax spores that can lie dormant
in soils for decades, he said.
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- Cattle get the disease by eating grass contaminated with
anthrax spores. The biggest outbreak in Manitoba is around Vita, 120 kilometres
southeast of Winnipeg. To date, 21 cattle on three Manitoba farms are known
to have died from anthrax. Two other farms have reported one anthrax death
each. Remaining animals on infected farms have been quarantined and vaccinated,
including some donkeys and horses.
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- As of Monday, about 460 animals in Manitoba had been
vaccinated with an antibiotic. The farms will remain under quarantine for
at least 30 days. The outbreak began Aug. 7. Up to 100 buffalo in Wood
Buffalo National Park in Alberta have also died from what is thought to
be anthrax. Another 10 cattle are believed dead from the bacteria in northwestern
Ontario near Rainy River. Luterbach said anthrax was a common disease among
buffalo herds when they still freely roamed the Prairies.
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- The disease is now relatively uncommon in North America
because of widespread vaccination of animals and disinfection of animal
products such as hides and wool. Luterbach believes the outbreak will subside
when the weather grows cooler. As well, there is little chance of diseased
cattle making it into the food system because animals contracting anthrax
die so quickly.
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- Anthrax is an extremely infectious disease of animals
that can be occasionally transmitted to humans. It primarily affects cattle,
sheep, horses, hogs, and goats and is almost always fatal. Transmission
to humans normally occurs through contact but can also occur if a person
breathes air laden with anthrax spores.
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- (Winnipeg Free Press) © The Canadian Press, 2000
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