- OTTAWA - Federal officials
are accusing the United States of jumping the gun in announcing that an
American cow infected with mad cow disease most likely came from Canada.
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- "We don't have the kind of evidence that we feel
you would have to say: `It's that animal, it's this herd, and it's this
location,'" said Dr. Brian Evans, chief veterinary officer of the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
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- "And unfortunately (that is) what's being portrayed
at this point in time ... and we don't think you can possibly be there
yet," Evans told a news conference yesterday, just hours after the
United States pointed the finger at Canada.
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- "We understand the pressures that can be placed
on an investigation to come to a conclusion in the light of the impact
of such a finding," he said. "Nevertheless, we feel that it is
imperative that all the evidence be weighed and verified before anyone
jumps to any pre-determination at this point in time."
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- U.S. officials believe they've traced the infected cow
back to a dairy farm north of Edmonton.
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- Dr. Ron DeHaven, chief veterinarian for the U.S. Agriculture
Department, said the animal was likely one of a herd of 74.
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- He said the dairy cows were imported into Idaho from
Alberta in August 2001.
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- "We're talking about very preliminary information"
from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Alberta herd owner, DeHaven
said.
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- However, Evans argued it's premature to say Alberta was
the source, noting there are significant discrepancies in the animal's
age.
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- DNA tests, expected within days, will conclusively prove
or disprove a Canadian connection, he said.
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- The U.S. alerted Canadian officials they planned to go
public with their conclusion about an Alberta herd only minutes ahead of
a press conference, said Evans, who has a number of concerns with the evidence
used to reach that finding.
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- For example, the U.S. initially quoted slaughterhouse
workers as saying the diseased animal was fully mature, and perhaps 9 to
12 years old, then released information from the farm where the cow last
lived suggesting it was approximately 4 years old. But the ear tag that
leads back to Canada is for an animal of roughly 6 years of age.
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- As well, Evans said a brucellosis vaccination tag that
was apparently found on the infected animal suggests the possibility of
American origins because Canada eradicated that disease and stopped vaccinating
for that disease in the mid 1980s.
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- The age is significant because the animal may have been
born before the United States and Canada in 1997 banned certain feed, which
is considered the most likely source of infection.
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- "No ear tag is tamper-proof, ear tags can be removed
and reapplied, but again, we're not intimating that that in fact is the
circumstance here," said Evans.
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- "What we're suggesting is that we need to verify,
using scientific methods such as DNA, that the animal that left Canada
with that ear tag is in fact the animal that the U.S. is pursuing at this
point."
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- Evans said the identification comes from a former dairy
operation north of Edmonton. He would not name the farmer because the connection
has not been verified. The herd no longer exists.
-
- He also said there is no connection between the infected
Holstein dairy cow and the northern Alberta breeder cow that was found
to have bovine spongiform encephalapathy (BSE), a brain-wasting disease,
earlier this year.
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- The discovery of a diseased animal last May devastated
the Canadian beef industry, with some estimating the damage at $2 billion
after more than 30 countries immediately closed their borders to Canadian
beef, restrictions that have only recently begun to be lifted.
-
- But Ted Haney of the Canada Beef Export Federation says
even if this latest animal is proven to come from Canada, it will not have
a major impact on opening international borders.
-
- "May there be a month or two delay? Yes. Will there
be a year or two delay? No," he said.
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- Haney said the possibility of Canada having other cases
of mad cow have been discussed with foreign market regulators since the
beginning of the crisis seven months ago. Canada has an estimated 15 million
cattle and the minimal risk for BSE is described as fewer than one positive
case per million.
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- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed resuming
imports of Canadian cattle under 30 months of age.
-
- But USDA spokesperson Julie Quick said the department
would take another look at its proposal in light of the U.S. mad cow outbreak.
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- The U.S. beef industry has asked the USDA not to reopen
the U.S. border.
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- "We are requesting an indefinite extension of the
final comments regarding the opening of the Canadian border to live animal
trade until the (U.S. mad cow) investigation is complete," said Terry
Stokes, chief executive officer of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
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- Canadians are worried about how another mad cow case
will affect easing the restrictions.
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- "Beef farmers in Ontario don't need any more bad
news this year," said Kelly Daynard, a spokesperson for the 21,000-member
Ontario Cattlemen's Association.
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- "It has been an absolutely terrible year for every
one of Canada's 90,000 beef farmers."
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- Daynard said the bad news came at a time when Ontario
beef farmers, who have already lost $100 million over mad cow concerns,
were hoping that the borders between Canada and the U.S. would open up
for their products sometime next year.
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- "Who knows when it will happen (now)," she
said.
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- Neil Jahnke, president of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association,
also acknowledged the announcement is "bad news."
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- But he stressed that in North America we've had two incidents
of BSE and in Britain they had more than 200,000 that tested positive,
"so there is certainly no danger to anyone."
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- Evans also downplayed the potential for a negative international
reaction.
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- "I don't think at this point in time that we expect
that the international community will rush to judgment until all the evidence
(is in)," he said.
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- And, he added, Canada has already acknowledged that an
additional small number of cases might be found here in the future. "So
I don't think from an international perspective that they see this as all
that shocking."
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- Agriculture Minister Bob Speller declined an interview
request yesterday, but issued a statement saying the U.S. comments "may
have been premature," but that he'd received assurances from his U.S.
counterpart to conduct DNA testing as soon as possible.
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- Canadian officials are now tracing other animals from
the Alberta dairy farm that the suspect animal may have come from.
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- Investigators are trying to determine whether any of
those animals are still living in this country so that they can be destroyed
and tested.
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- U.S. officials say the slaughtered cow was deboned at
Midway Meats in Centralia, Wash., and the meat was sent to two other plants
in the region, identified as Willamette Valley Meat and Interstate Meat,
both near Portland, Ore.
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- Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is trying
to find out if the cow ate contaminated feed ÷ a difficult task
because the animal may have got the disease years before it appeared sick.
BSE has an incubation period of four or five years.
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