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Dirty Canadian Cows
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| anuneventrade |
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/12/27/mad.cow/index.html
| quote: | WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Holstein diagnosed with mad cow disease in Washington state may have entered the United States from the Canadian province of Alberta in 2001 with 73 other cows, an official with the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Saturday.
Dr. Ron DeHaven, the USDA's chief of veterinary medicine, said Canadian records show the herd would have entered the United States at Eastport, Idaho.
He said investigators have matched an ear tag retrieved from the sick cow at the slaughterhouse to records from a Canadian cow.
Dr. Brian Evans, chief veterinary officer with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, said there is a discrepancy between the Canadians and the Americans versions of the cow's age.
"We do not have a definitive diagnosis of this particular animal," Evans said in a conference call with reporters.
U.S. investigators believe the sick cow was two years old and had borne three calves, one of which died. Canadian records show that the cow there was born in 1997, making it at least six years old, and had borne two calves.
In Canada's first mad cow case in a decade, an eight-year-old cow was tested and killed in January after showing signs of illness. Tests in England confirmed signs of mad cow disease.
DeHaven said investigators are uncertain whether they have located the birth herd, which would allow them to test other animals. The tests for mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), cannot be done on a live animal.
"These animals were all dairy cattle and entered the U.S. only about two or two-and-a-half years ago, so most of them are still likely alive," DeHaven said.
He emphasized that just because the sick cow was a member of the herd, it does not mean the other 73 animals were infected -- but it may not have shown up.
The brain-wasting mad cow disease is usually transmitted through contaminated feed and has an incubation period of four to five years.
Mad cow disease is linked to a similar form of the incurable and fatal brain-wasting disease in humans, called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, or vCJD.
There have been a small number of cases of vCJD reported worldwide, primarily in the United Kingdom, in people who ate BSE-contaminated meat.
At least 100 people have died of vCJD, and outbreaks of BSE have led to large declines in beef consumption.
Mad cow disease first appeared in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s and millions of cattle were slaughtered.
BSE spread across the European cattle industry, but the first case in North America did not appear until the Canadian case in May this year. Eighteen farms were quarantined, but no additional cases were discovered.
Many nations have banned beef imports from the United States, including Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Russia, Mexico and China. |
Damn Canadians! :whip: :stongue: :p |
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| Perfect_Cheezit |
| :nervous: |
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| razmataz |
this reminds me of the New York blackout that was blamed on Canada... when in fact it was a faulty transmission lines in Ohio...
but i digress from the topic at hand... |
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| Dopey |
| thats right!! we don't need no steenkin' army, we poison you American fools. :D |
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| PHALPAX |
| quote: | Originally posted by Dopey
thats right!! we don't need no steenkin' army, we poison you American fools. :D |
Tricky Canadians:haha: :stongue: |
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| NYCTrancefan |
| Whether the cow was from Canada or not really won't make one difference now because it was already here. So much trade takes place between our two nations that it would not be unlikely that this could have happened, it could have easily been the other way around. Short of closing the border completely to trade, I don't see what can be done. The U.S. and Canada need to work together to get to the bottom of this and ensure that not one more case of BSE occurs. I think that I will take a break from beef for a while. As unlikely as me getting BSE might be, until the full details are known I will remain weary about what is going on. |
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| che |
| quote: | Originally posted by razmataz
this reminds me of the New York blackout that was blamed on Canada... when in fact it was a faulty transmission lines in Ohio...
but i digress from the topic at hand... |
So true....Its hard to believe enything that your hear these days. NYC is correct. I could have been anyones fault. Give it some time and the truth will come out. |
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| Yoepus |
| Screw waiting, I blame the French Canadians :D |
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| PHALPAX |
| quote: | Originally posted by Yoepus
Screw waiting, I blame the French Canadians :D |
Theres no Canada like French Canada :toothless |
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| NYCTrancefan |
| quote: | Originally posted by PHALPAX
Theres no Canada like French Canada :toothless |
Had the fortune to go out with one who attended my university an hour away from Canada, close to the New York - Montreal border. They aren't that bad as long as you speak French:). |
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| anuneventrade |
| :haha: The blame game is quite humorous. It's like dealing with five year olds when asking "who dropped the milk on the floor"! |
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| PHALPAX |
| quote: | Originally posted by NYCTrancefan
Had the fortune to go out with one who attended my university an hour away from Canada, close to the New York - Montreal border. They aren't that bad as long as you speak French:). |
hhmmmm....yeah, I kinda got the same sort of reception in France. I started speaking english randomly to someone and they gave me some rather nasty looks until one of my French relatives explained who I was. :whip: *sigh*...the French.... |
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