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Science Forum Index » Agriculture Forum » BEEF INDUSTRYıS CONUNDRUM: WHAT IF MORE BSE IS FOUND?
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| David Kendra |
 Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2003 6:58 pm |
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BEEF INDUSTRYıS CONUNDRUM: WHAT IF MORE BSE IS FOUND?
September 20, 2003
Winnipeg Free Press
B5
Laura Rance
There is, according to this story, one assumption that fatally flaws the
Canadian beef industryıs response to the BSE crisis so far.
In all of Canada and the U.S., there was only one cow out of the potentially
thousands on both sides of the border exposed to the same contaminated feed
supply in the late 1990s that subsequently developed the disease. Therefore,
itıs only a question of time before borders reopen and ³things get back to
normal.²
But what if another case surfaces?
The story says that Canada and the U.S. banned the practice of feeding
ruminant remnants back to ruminants in 1997. Arguably it should have
happened sooner, knowing what is known now, but it still means any material
that was cycling through the livestock feed chain has been effectively
eliminated since then.
Secondly, the abnormal protein cells called prions are found only in parts
of the animal linked to the central nervous system<the brain, spinal cord
and parts such as the eyes. Those specified risk materials (SRM) are now
banned from the human food chain (much to the chagrin of the producers for
the television series Fear Factor.)
Dr. Paul Kitching, the veterinarian in charge of the National Centre for
Foreign Animal Disease in Winnipeg, was cited as telling a recent industry
meeting there is a greater risk of developing the non-variant form of
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, which is miniscule, than there is of catching the
variant form linked to consuming BSE-contaminated meat.
The story adds that under the guidelines that currently exist within the OIE
(Office Internationale des Epizooties), Canadaıs trading status can resume
seven years after its last case of BSE, and that could explain why Canada
has been slow to implement the international panelıs recommendations for
increased surveillance and testing for presence of the disease.
According to the way these rules play out, Canada is in a no-win situation.
Increase surveillance or thereıs little chance of seeing the return of
export trade. Find another case<a sign your surveillance system is working
as it should<and thereıs little chance of seeing the return of export trade. |
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