Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Fact Sheet

What is Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)?

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or BSE, is a progressive, fatal disease of the nervous system of cattle. It is one member of a family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Other TSEs include scrapie in sheep and goats, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in deer and elk, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in humans.

What Causes BSE?

Although the exact cause of BSE is unknown, it is associated with the accumulation of abnormal or misfolded proteins, called BSE prions, in the brain. There is no treatment or vaccine currently available for the disease.

What are the Symptoms of BSE?

Because this is a slow developing disease, cattle with BSE may not show any signs of the disease for up to three to six years after they have been exposed to BSE prions. Symptoms are variable but always progressive and may include, nervous or aggressive behavior, abnormal posture, incoordination, difficulty standing, decreased milk production, and weight loss. These symptoms may progress for up to six months until the animal dies.

How is BSE Transmitted?

BSE is not a contagious disease. Research indicates that the only risk factor for the spread of BSE is through feeding cattle meat and bone meal (MBM) derived from BSE-infected cattle. BSE prions are resistant to normal inactivation procedures, such as disinfectants and heat. BSE prions are not completely destroyed by the rendering process.

BSE is not contagious and cannot be transmitted animal-to-animal contact. Nor are BSE prions present in milk or dairy products.

How is BSE Diagnosed?

BSE is a federally reportable disease in Canada, under the authority of the Health of Animals Act.. Suspected neurological cases of BSE must be reported to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

There is no test to diagnose BSE in live animals. The disease can only be confirmed by testing the animal’s brain after death. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is the international gold standard for confirmatory testing. This procedure takes up to five days before results are available. The CFIA has approved a number of rapid tests for BSE, which decrease the testing time by half. Alberta Agriculture and Food (AF) has chosen to use the Bio-Rad TeSeE® ELISA kit as a rapid screening test for BSE. This test is being conducted in an enhanced Biosecurity Level II facility. All tests producing a reaction will be confirmed by IHC at CFIA's National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease (NCFAD) in Winnipeg.

Do We Have BSE in Canada?

BSE has been diagnosed in Canada 15 times. In none of these cases, any part entered to the human food suply or animal feed chain. The first case, in 1993, was found in a purebred beef cow imported from Great Britain in 1987. Also, a dairy cow diagnosed with BSE in the United States in December 2003 originated from a farm in Alberta. It was born prior to the implementation of the ruminant-to-ruminant feed ban in August 1997. In all cases, the CFIA has conducted extensive investigations, tested and depopulated large numbers of cattle of the same birth cohort (those born within 12 months of the infected animal) of those tested positive. None of the birth cohorts have tested positive to date. The CFIA investigation also looks for the farm of origin, where it performs and extensive epidemiological study.

Of the 15 cases reported in Canada, ten of them have been diagnosed in Alberta, where they were sampled by veterinarians and submitted for testing under the Canada-Alberta BSE Surveillance Program (CABSESP).

What are the Trade Implications of BSE?

The Office International des Epizooties (OIE), the world animal health organization, has developed criteria to classify each country, based upon their risk for BSE. As of May 2007, Canada is classified as a country with "controlled" risk for BSE. The OIE BSE Code provides guidelines for other countries to use in determining their import policies.

As a result of the first Canadian-born case of BSE reported in May 2003, over 30 countries, including the United States (US), placed trading restrictions on beef exports from Canada. In August 2003, the US began allowing whole-muscle cuts from Canadian cattle less than 30 months of age into their country. On July 13, 2005, the US border opened to Canadian ruminants under 30 months of age. The cost of BSE to the Canadian cattle industry is estimated to be $7 billion.

As a result of the strict BSE surveillance program of Canada, as well as the mitigation procedures to avoid that any infected material enters the food chain, Canadian exports reached and surpassed pre-BSE levels last December 2006. Other events, such as the enhanced feed ban, which aliminates the possibility that any bovine protein may be used to produce any other animal food, including pet food and fertilizers, it is expected that Canada re-gain access to old markets, as well as to gain new ones.

Other Countries Have BSE?

Other countries known to have native cases of BSE include, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Portugal, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Finland, Greece, Belgium, Austria, Czech Republic, Ireland, Israel, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, Slovenia, Luxembourg and Japan.

What is Being Done to Prevent BSE from Becoming Established in Canada?

Canada has implemented a number of precautions to prevent the spread of BSE and to protect public health. These measures include the following:

• In 1990, Canada made BSE a reportable disease. Any suspect cases of BSE must be reported to the CFIA, who is responsible for control and eradication of the disease, under the authority of the Health of Animals Act.

• Canada only allows importation of live ruminants, their meat and meat products from countries that Canada considers to be free of BSE. Additional controls have also been placed on animal products and by-products from countries that have confirmed BSE in native animals.

• Canada has not imported European ruminant-derived MBM for use in livestock feeds for more than a decade. In December 2000, Canada banned the import of rendered animal material from any species from any country that Canada does not recognize as free of BSE.

• In August 1997, Canada introduced a ruminant-to-ruminant feed ban, meaning that rendered protein products from ruminant animals (cattle, sheep, goats, bison, elk or deer) cannot be fed to other ruminants.

• In July 2003, Canada implemented the removal of specified risk material (SRM) from the human food chain. SRMs are tissues that, in BSE-infected cattle, contain more than 99% of BSE infectivity, and include brain, spinal cord, trigeminal and dorsal root ganglia, eyes, tonsils in animals over 30 months of age and the intestine in cattle of all ages. Alberta immediately implemented this SRM ban at all provincially licensed abattoirs and meat processing facilities in July 2003.

• In December 2004, the CFIA announced amendments to certain federal regulations regarding the prohibition of SRMs from being used in all animal feed, including pet food and fertilizers.

• In July 12, 2007 the Enhanced Feed Ban came into effect, making this regulation official in Canada.

• The implementation of the Canadian Cattle Identification Program (CCIP) makes it possible to trace individual animal movements from the herd of origin to slaughter. In 2004, the program was expanded to include bison and sheep.

What is the Purpose of Testing Cattle for BSE?

There are two primary reasons why Canada must conduct surveillance for BSE. First, BSE surveillance is a measure of the effectiveness of the precautionary processes Canada has implemented since 1990 to prevent the spread of BSE if it existed in our cattle herd. For example, the ruminant-to-ruminant feed ban implemented in 1997.

BSE surveillance also facilitates an estimate the prevalence of BSE in Canada’s adult cattle herd. This is important because it allows Canada to improve or maintain its status with the OIE and the international community. If Canada’s BSE status becomes “undetermined”, it will be impossible to ever regain market access for cattle and beef products.

Canada has conducted surveillance for BSE since 1993. AF has participated in the national BSE surveillance program since 1996. Alberta enhanced its BSE surveillance in 2002 by targeting cattle over 18 months of age that exhibited neurological signs, were downers or were condemned at a provincially licensed abattoir, were presented for emergency slaughter or died for no apparent reason. AF shares information on an ongoing basis with the CFIA on the sirveillance program. Alberta and Canada have consistently tested more animals than recommended by the OIE.

In 2004, the CFIA announced enhanced targets for BSE testing, 8,000 cattle in 2004, increasing to 30,000 annually. The Canada-Alberta BSE Surveillance Program (CABSESP) was initiated in September 10, 2004 to increase the number of high-risk Alberta cattle tested for BSE as part of Canada’s BSE surveillance initiative. In 2004, 11,748 cattle were tested; 30,537 in 2005, 25,825 in 2006, 26,646 in 2007 and 17,459 in 2008.

What is the Canada-Alberta BSE Surveillance Program?

The Canada and Alberta BSE Surveillance program was initiated (retroactive to July 1, 2004) as a response from Alberta to help meet national and international animal health standards. The minimum numbers suggested by CFIA for testing in Alberta were very soon surpassed by Alberta, which tested 11748 animals in 2004, out of the minimum requirement of 2780.

The Canada-Alberta BSE Surveillance Program provides reimbursement to producers for the costs associated with holding the carcass pending a negative test result and for appropriate disposal. Veterinarians are paid for the farm visit, clinical examination and/or postmortem of animals and the costs associated with filling in the application forms and submitting testable samples from eligible cattle for BSE testing to either the AF laboratory in Edmonton or the CFIA laboratory in Lethbridge. AF tops-up the $75 CFIA reimbursement to producers by $150, issuing producers a single cheque for $225. AF is issuing the funds in a single cheque, with the first $100 recovered from CFIA. Provincial abattoirs are no longer in the program. The program has undergone a number of changes towards improving its capability and efficiency. Major changes include accepting only animals from 30 to 107 months, verified by records, or by dentition, and allowing only certified veterinarians to assess the animals and collect eligible samples.

Which Cattle are Eligible Under the Program?

Eligible cattle include those which fall into one of the following categories : 1) neurologicals. 2) downers, 3) dead, 4) diseased or 5) distressed. Cattle eligibility must be determined by a certified veterinarian. Emaciated animals are no longer eligible for the program. Clinical BSE suspects must be reported to a CFIA district veterinarian. if a producer suspects he/she has a qualifying animal, they should contact their closer certified. To see a list of certified veterinarians in Alberta, please visit: http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/general/progserv.nsf/all/pgmsrv187/$file/vet-certification-list.pdf?OpenElement

How Many Alberta Cattle Have Been Tested Under the Program?

Please go to the BSE Montlhly and Cumulative Surveillance Results web page for up-to-date information.

Why Don’t We Test All Cattle for BSE?

OIE guidelines are based on science and recommend BSE surveillance be targeted to those groups of cattle most likely to test positive, or, in other words, the animals in the age frame that is more likely to develop BSE. It takes between two and eight years following exposure to BSE before cattle develop clinical disease. In the United Kingdom, of 180,000 cattle found to be positive for BSE, only 0.05% were 30 months of age or less and 0.006% were 24 months of age or less. Over 80% of cattle slaughtered in Alberta are less than 18 to 22 months of age and are, therefore, extremely unlikely to test positive. Public health is not protected by BSE surveillance; rather it is protected by the removal of SRMs from the human food chain.

Is Alberta’s Beef Safe?

Yes, Alberta beef and dairy products are safe for consumption. Alberta’s food safety system is among the best in the world. Detection of our BSE cases is proof of the effectiveness of our surveillance and monitoring systems. SRM removal eliminates more than 99% of the BSE infectivity in infected cattle. As well, infectivity has never been detected in skeletal muscles tissues, from which most quality meat is derived. BSE prions are concentrated in nervous tissues such as the brain, and spinal cord of affected cattle.

What are the Responsibilities of Beef and Dairy Producers?

• Anyone suspecting that an animal may have BSE should contact his or her veterinarian to diagnose the condition. Cattle suspected of having BSE must be reported to the CFIA, by law.

• Producers who believe they have an animal that is eligible under the Canada-Alberta BSE Surveillance Program should contact their local certified veterinarian. Failure by Canada to test an adequate number of these cattle may jeopardize market access of ruminant or ruminant products.

• Producers are responsible for checking feedbags carefully for the label “Do not feed to cattle, sheep, deer or other ruminants”. Such feed contains material that is prohibited for ruminants. If you mix feed on your farm, ensure that you follow directions and prevent cross contamination of ruminant feeds with that intended for non-ruminants (horses, hogs, poultry).

• All invoices for feed purchased must be kept for at least two years.

• When there is a confirmed case of a disease such as BSE, accurate records become vital for tracing animal movements, animal contacts and finding the herd of origin, offspring, past herd mates and any connection to other herds. The sooner these animals are identified, the sooner the investigation can be completed. The seriousness of one case of BSE is evident. Accurate records are essential to minimize the impact of detecting a case of BSE.