Likely Mad Cow Found In Canada

Canadian officials said Thursday they had detected a possible case of mad cow disease, just a day after the United States said it planned to reopen its border to Canadian beef.

The border was closed 19 months ago when a cow in northern Alberta tested positive for mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday the border could be opened in March.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the new suspected case involved a 10-year-old dairy cow but released few other details.

CFIA said preliminary tests have yielded positive results, and conclusive results are expected in three to five days from the Canadian Science Center for Human and Animal Health in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

No part of the animal entered the human food or animal feed systems, the agency said.

The CFIA said U.S. authorities have been notified of the tests, even though the government usually reports only confirmed results.

"However, given the unique situation created by the United States' border announcement ... it was decided that the most prudent action would be to publicly announce the available information and provide stakeholders with a full understanding of the current situation," CFIA said.

The U.S. policy announced Wednesday will permit imports of cattle younger than 30 months and certain other animals and products from Canada, which the Agriculture Department said has effective measures to prevent and detect mad cow disease.

The department said the ruling, which will take effect March 7, came after determining Canada is a "minimal-risk region," the first country recognized as such.

Dennis Laycraft of the Canadian Cattlemen's Association said Thursday he expected the border to reopen on schedule because the finding, if positive for BSE, would still fall within U.S. guidelines maintaining Canada as a minimal risk country.

"It's a little unbelievable in terms of the timing within a few hours of the U.S. announcement," Laycraft said. "But early indications are that things will continue to move ahead."

BSE is a chronic, degenerative disorder affecting the central nervous system of cattle. Since it was first diagnosed in Great Britain in 1986, there have been more than 180,000 cases.

Before the trade ban, animals regularly crossed the border and Canada sold more than 70 percent of its live cattle to the United States.