WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Canada aims to eliminate mad cow disease within the next 10 years by banning high-risk tissue from all livestock feed, pet food and fertilizers, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Monday.
"This means that virtually all potential known infectivity will be blocked from entering the feed chain," said CFIA veterinarian Dr. Brian Evans.
Specific cattle tissues, including the brain and spinal cord, capable of transmitting mad cow disease will be banned from all livestock feed as of July 12, 2007, the agency said. Such high-risk material was banned from cattle feed in 1997 in a bid to halt transmission of the brain-wasting disease.
"It is important to recognize that the measures announced today are not a guarantee against a small number of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) cases in the short- and medium-term," Evans said.
BSE, or mad cow disease, has a long incubation period and the small number of animals exposed either prior to or in the implementation phase of the 1997 ban may still be found in the coming years, he said.
"Furthermore, it is possible that trace amounts of infected material may remain in the feed system or on farms for a further limited period of time," Evans said.
Canada and the United States banned the inclusion of protein from cows and other ruminants, such as goats and sheep, in cattle feed in 1997, following Britain's BSE outbreak. Under that ban, those ingredients were still permitted in swine, horse and chicken feed, but there has been concern that cattle were becoming infected due to cross-contamination or after eating this feed.
The specified risk materials that will be banned from all livestock feed have been removed from slaughtered cattle for human consumption since 2003, when Canada 's first native-born mad cow case was discovered.
The new ban is aimed at preventing the cross-contamination of cattle feed from other livestock feed either during transportation, in storage or on the farm.
"Although we do anticipate there could be a small number of additional cases in the coming two to three years based on what's incubating out there, nevertheless we still believe we're looking at a window of something less than 10 years now to eradicate BSE and put it fully behind us," Evans said.
The high-risk material will also be excluded from pet foods and fertilizers, to mitigate any chance of exposure to cattle with these products, he said.
The ban not only aims to eradicate BSE, but also to expand trade opportunities.
"We believe there are markets that will open relatively quickly with this announcement," Evans said
Program implementation is expected to take 12 months and will cost approximately 0.1 Canadian cent per pound of beef. The federal government has set aside C$80 million ($71 million) toward this, Evans said.
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