2nd case of mad cow disease discovered in Canada

OTTAWA -- Canadian government inspectors have confirmed another case of mad cow disease in the western province of Alberta, the nation's food agency said Tuesday.\nThe Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the brain-wasting disease showed up in an Alberta cow younger than 7. That means it was born after a 1997 feed ban in Canada removed the use of ruminants in feed, commonly believed to be the cause of the disease.\nOfficials say no part of the animal has entered the human or animal feed system.\nThis is the second case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy found in Canada this year. The disease attacks an animal's nervous system, and food contaminated with BSE can afflict people with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which is usually fatal.\nEarlier this month, the disease was detected in an 8-year-old cow from Alberta. It was born in the same herd, within one year, of a cow shipped to the United States in February 2002 for immediate slaughter, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.\nThat first case was reported just a day after the United States said it planned to reopen its border to Canadian beef in March. The border was closed in May 2003 after a cow in northern Alberta tested positive for BSE.\nThe USDA ruling, effective March 7, declared Canada a "minimal-risk region" so that cattle could be shipped into the United States under certain restrictions. The cattle must be slaughtered by the age of 30 months, which scientists say is too young to contract mad cow disease, and they also must be transported in sealed containers to a feedlot or slaughter house.\nOn Monday, a cattlemen's group sued the USDA to stop it from allowing live cattle and expanded beef imports from Canada. The lawsuit by R-CALF United Stockgrowers of America said the USDA's plan would pose a risk to consumers and U.S. producers.\nThe ban has devastated Canadian ranchers, leaving them with a surplus of cattle and few places to slaughter or sell them.