A six-year-old cow in Alberta has tested positive for mad cow disease, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed Monday.
No parts of the animal were processed for the human food system, CFIA chief veterinary officer Dr. Brian Evans told a news conference in Alberta.
"This animal was detected on the farm where it was born and no part of this animal entered the food for human consumption or feed for animal consumption purposes systems," Evans told reporters.
Describing the test results as "unwelcome but not unexpected," Evans said the Canadian food supply was "safe."
"The entire carcass has been contained by the CFIA," he said, adding that the age of the animal was the "critical issue."
"It's age and geographic location are consistent with Canada's previous BSE cases detected under our national surveillance program."
It's the fourth such case in Canada since the first one was discovered in May 2003 in Alberta. A U.S. animal that tested positive for BSE two years ago also came from Alberta.
The confirmation comes after federal agriculture inspectors sent what was termed a "suspicious sample" to a Winnipeg lab for further testing on the weekend.
Cattle ban
Canada's beef and dairy cattle breeding industry has been shut out of the United States since bovine spongiform encephalopathy was discovered in an Alberta cow in May 2003.
A subsequent two-year ban on Canadian beef cost the industry an estimated $7 billion.
But things had started looking up. American reopened its borders to Canadian cattle in July, and Japan -- one of Canada's largest markets -- followed in December.
Over the weekend, Japan announced it would again be halting U.S. imports of beef, after an animal spine was found in a beef shipment at Tokyo International Airport. Such body parts are believed to be at high risk of mad cow disease.
Mad cow disease, also known as BSE bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is a degenerative nerve disease in cattle. It has been linked to the fatal nerve disorder in humans, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.
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