- "We now have DNA evidence that allows us to verify
with a high degree of certainty the BSE positive cow found in the state
of Washington originated from a dairy farm in Alberta, Canada," said
Ron DeHaven, USDA's chief veterinarian.
-
- However, a Reuters story which ran yesterday had this
to say:
-
- "DNA test results expected this week from the first
U.S. case of mad cow disease may support the theory it was born in Canada
but cannot provide absolute proof... If they coincide, it's a very strong
indication, and taken together with the ear tags and supporting evidence,
would suggest that they have made the match... But many Holstein cows share
genetic markers because farmers use semen from a relatively small number
of high-performance bulls to impregnate many cows."
-
- Note - Per an earlier story, there were "inconsistencies
in the physical description of the animal." Furthermore, "U.S.
records list a younger age for the cow, perhaps four to 4-1/2 years.' http://www.rense.com/general46/right.html
-
- Can you spell 'coverup'?
-
-
- Tests Show US Mad Cow Was Canadian-Born
- By Randy Fabi and Richard Cowan
1-6-4
-
- WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- DNA
test results show the first U.S. animal infected with mad cow was born
in Canada, U.S. and Canadian officials said on Tuesday, a link that could
allow the United States to still claim to be free of the brain-wasting
ailment.
-
- The U.S. Agriculture Department has sought to reassure
dozens of trading partners that U.S. meat is safe and they should lift
bans on U.S. beef exports. U.S. beef exports total about $3.2 billion a
year.
-
- A USDA delegation was in Mexico City on Tuesday to try
to convince agriculture officials there that the first U.S. case of mad
cow disease was an isolated incident. Mexico is the second-biggest buyer
of U.S. beef.
-
- DNA testing, done separately by Canada and the United
States, was part of a broad investigation into how a Holstein dairy cow
in Washington state was infected with the disease, also known as bovine
spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The 6-year-old cow was diagnosed on Dec.
23.
-
- "We now have DNA evidence that allows us to verify
with a high degree of certainty the BSE positive cow found in the state
of Washington originated from a dairy farm in Alberta, Canada," said
Ron DeHaven, USDA's chief veterinarian.
-
- With the confirmation, two cases of the disease have
been found in cows from Alberta. The first was reported on May 20 and triggered
the same sweeping trade bans on beef exports that met the U.S. announcement
of mad cow.
-
- U.S. scientists matched the DNA of the infected cow found
in Washington state with a DNA sample from a Canadian bull thought to have
sired the cow. Canada's chief veterinarian, Brian Evans, said Canadian
DNA tests showed the same result.
-
- Import certificates show the infected cow was shipped
from Canada to Washington state in September 2001, along with 80 or 81
others. Another batch of 17 cattle from the same Canadian farm was shipped
across the border later, officials said.
-
- Investigators are trying to pinpoint the location of
all the animals, as well as the source of livestock feed given to the infected
cow when she was young.
-
- Contaminated feed is the most likely way that both Canadian-born
animals contracted the disease. But it remains far from certain the two
animals -- living on separate Alberta farms -- shared the same feed source,
officials said.
-
- "We have not at this point got sufficient evidence
to make any definitive feed link between the two farms," Evans said.
"They did not buy from a common feed mill. They did not have similar
type rations on their farms."
-
- The Washington state cow's birthplace is also important
for trade reasons.
-
- Standards set by the World Organization for Animal Health
say a nation can be classified as provisionally free of mad cow when the
disease is found in imported cattle and authorities are diligent in rooting
it out and in maintaining safeguards.
-
- Some consumer groups have said that approach would jeopardize
the administration's credibility.
-
- U.S. trade officials are trying to persuade major importers
such as Japan, South Korea and Mexico that new safeguards will prevent
any other cases of mad cow disease.
-
- "Right now, the primary issue is to define if a
single animal can be enough to qualify the country as being infected,"
Javier Trujillo, in charge of the Mexican agriculture ministry's animal
health division, told Reuters.
-
- U.S. cattle futures fell on Tuesday after Japanese officials
said new U.S. safeguards did not go far enough.
-
- Japanese Agriculture Minister Yoshiyuki Kamei indicated
to reporters in Tokyo that he wants the United States to conduct the same
kind of tests as Japan, which tests all slaughtered cattle for mad cow
disease.
-
- Japan's trade minister will visit Washington on Thursday
to discuss the situation. Tokyo is also sending a delegation to Australia,
which is eager to sell more beef.
-
- People who eat infected cattle can develop variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob
disease, which has killed more than 130.
-
- Copyright © 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited
without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable
for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon.
-
- http://news.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=IUK1NKC55ONTICRBAEKSFEY?type=
topNews&storyID=4083203
-
-
- DNA Test Of Mad Cow To Provide Clues To Birthplace
-
- "...many Holstein cows share genetic markers because
farmers use semen from a relatively small number of high-performance bulls
to impregnate many cows."
-
- By Roberta Rampton Forbes.com 1-6-4
-
- WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) -- DNA test results expected
this week from the first U.S. case of mad cow disease may support the theory
it was born in Canada but cannot provide absolute proof, a senior Canadian
official said Monday.
-
- If genetic markers in the DNA of the infected cow match
those from a bull that records show is its sire, it will be a "strong
indication" that the cow came from Alberta, as U.S. investigators
purport, said Paul Kitching, director of Canada's National Centre for Foreign
Animal Disease.
-
- "You can never be 100 percent sure in this type
of situation, but all the evidence taken together would be as certain as
you're ever likely to be," Kitching said.
-
- U.S. officials and industry groups have said they hope
a match will allow a quick resumption in beef exports, which have been
banned by most foreign buyers.
-
- But Canadian farmers worry a match will mean a protracted
closure of markets for their beef. Canada found its first home-grown case
of mad cow disease in May, a discovery that crippled its export-dependent
beef industry.
-
- U.S. officials fingered the cow as Canadian after finding
ear tags at the slaughtering plant in Washington state where the infected
animal was processed.
-
- Canadian officials traced the ear tags back to a Leduc,
Alberta dairy farm that sold off its herd in 2001. The farmer kept excellent
records, including information about what semen was used to artificially
inseminate cows on the farm.
-
- Bovine paternity experts in labs on both sides of the
Canada-U.S. border have extracted DNA from that semen as well as from brain
tissue from the infected cow, Kitching said.
-
- They will compare at least 12 genetic markers and as
many as 21 in the two DNA samples, he said.
-
- If the markers don't match, the bull did not sire the
cow, which means there could be a mix-up with the ear tags from the plant,
or could mean the farmer's records were wrong, or that the cow's mother
was inadvertently impregnated by a live bull on the farm, Kitching said.
-
- "If they coincide, it's a very strong indication,
and taken together with the ear tags and supporting evidence, would suggest
that they have made the match," he said.
-
- But many Holstein cows share genetic markers because
farmers use semen from a relatively small number of high-performance bulls
to impregnate many cows, Kitching said.
-
- "These bulls are responsible for fathering a large
number of calves," he said. "It's not quite as diverse as the
human population, where one guy doesn't father that many kids."
-
- Investigators could be more certain of the diseased cow's
origins if they had genetic material from her mother, but Kitching said
it is not available.
-
- Kitching said he expects Canadian and U.S. officials
will compare their DNA results before announcing the findings.
-
- A spokesperson with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
said Monday that if tests go well, results may be available as early as
Tuesday.
-
- Copyright 2004, Reuters News Service
-
- http://www.forbes.com/business/newswire/2004/01/05/rtr1198433.html
|
