OTTAWA — The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly called mad cow disease, in an 80-month-old dairy cow from Alberta.
The announcement was made May 15.
No part of the animal’s carcass entered the human food or animal feed systems.
The animal’s birth farm has been identified, and an investigation is under way. The age and location of the infected animal are consistent with previous cases detected in Canada.
This case was detected through the national BSE surveillance program.
The agency does not expect this case to affect exports of Canadian cattle or beef.
I think and believe that in Canada, there are not respected the recommendations about the nutritional requirements in dairy cows. So on the other hand see my conclusions about the reasons of the BSE incidence decrease;
1. Increase of magnesium in mineral feed supplement (by 160%) for dairy cattle at the beginning of 1990s (see later; a fundamental “initial decrease” of BSE incidence in the United Kingdom). For example see well known Czech experiment (December 1989); „Evaluation of a new mineral feed supplement used in feeding young breeding cattle in the winter season”. However, the official scientific statement about the 5-years incubation period of the BSE in the UK is different. It is based on the feed ban of meat and bone meal (1988) and the BSE incidence decrease after 1993.
2. The research during 1990s resulted to decrease of protein content in dairy rations; see the comparison of the NRC (1989 and 2001); Recommendations about lower protein intake in dairy cows as a „phenomenon“ at the 2001/2002 period; and later steady “final decrease” of BSE incidence; in European states with high producing dairy cows, especially.
The proof about these conclusions; My advice is following concerning to obtain the proof about the “BSE not infectious disease”: The BSE disease was tested in dairy cows, see “nutritional experiment” performed in England; published in Veterinary Record (MOORBY et al., 2000) and in Journal of Dairy Science ( DEWHURST et al., 2000; MOORBY et al., 2000). So there is necessary to repeat their nutritional experiment (investigate under „typical“ western European conditions from 1980s- 1990s) according to these authors; by using ryegrass forage heavily of „nitrogen and potassium fertilized“, and keeping the level of 20% crude protein in dry matter of dairy ration (using protein concentrate- with soya bean meal); during a minimum of six months! I am sure that the BSE will be developed in a minimum of 13 % experimental animals. Why? Because in their trial, also 13% ; six from the 47 experimental of dairy cows developed clinical signs of BSE; after six month incubation period; without meat and bone meal (MBM) feeding, however with a high protein concentrate feeding. In connection with the protein surplus, ruminants are predominant about the Mg- deficiency, so BSE can be involved. See these relationships, according to my recent presentation at 29th World Veterinary Congress in Vancouver; Neurodegenerative Diseases and Schizophrenia as a Hyper or Hypofunction of the NMDA Receptors.
Sincerely
Josef Hlasny,DVM,PhD., veterinary surgeon in Bludov, Czech Republic