© theother press ¢ Mews Mad About the Cow Ranchers and related industries wait with bated breath as beef prices slump. Ted Morrison OP Contributor The section of meat freezers devoted to beef at the 6th Avenue and 6th Street Safeway is a very colourful place. Neon-red “$1.00 Off” stickers abound, sometimes two or three to a parcel. At the very end, nudged up against the fresh fish cabinet, a large red sign over a pile of large roasts declares, “Buy one get one free!” Despite the sign, most shoppers stay in the pork and poultry sections. One man, though, picks up a parcel of steaks priced at 50 percent off. He says that he'll freeze them until the Health Canada report comes back. This is the reaction of many Canadians after a case of BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy), or Mad Cow Disease, was discovered in Fairview, Alberta on May 20. Only a few days have passed since the discovery, but already the economic impact is beginning to be felt. The United States was the first country to ban imports of Canadian beef this week, but has since been followed by, among others, Japan and Mexico—the third and fourth largest Canadian beef export markets—respectively. Ninety thousand ranchers are already starting to feel the pinch as slaughterhouses and rendering plants slow down or stop to await the verdict. Canada banned the importation of European cattle in 1990, after a British Mad Cow epidemic in the “80s, but didn’t get around to banning animal pro- tein feed until 1997. Animal protein from sheep contaminated with the dis- ease Scrapie, a degenerative and fatal disease that affects the central nervous system in goats and sheep, has been identified as a likely cause of BSE. This means the infected animal may have eaten such contaminated feed in its early years. The last identified Canadian BSE case was in 1993, when six cows from a farm near Red Deer were slaughtered. Mad Cow has been linked to variant Creutzfeldt - Jakob Disease in humans. Variant CJD causes the brain to deteriorate, leading to neurological and psychiatric symptoms and death. Sufferers generally die within two years of developing symptoms, although the incubation period is suspected to be from 12 to 20 years. Complicating matters is the fact that the only way to ies Page 6 http://otherpress.douglas.bc.ca June 2003 Photos by Kim Meier ascertain the presence of vCJD is by post-mortem examination of the brain. The website of the British Department of Health reports that only 129 cases of death from vCJD are confirmed out of over 800 suspected since 1990. Only one Canadian is known to have died from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, in August 2002. However, the man had spent a great deal of time in Britain, and had apparently contracted vCJD while overseas. The Canadian Red Cross reported in 1995 that two donors may have died of vCJD, but it is still not known if the disease may be passed on through blood or blood products. A potential fourth case turned out to be the very rare genetically inherited form of the disease. It seems doubtful that the Canadian public should be particularly worried. “The animal in question was sent to a rendering plant after slaughter. I want to stress that the animal did not go into the food chain.” Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief told reporters. BSE is not contagious between herd ani- mals; it is transmitted by contaminated feed. There is a high probability that this will remain an isolated case. The burning questions are whether any animals from quarantined herds made it into the food chain, and if so—were they sick? Currently, 17 farms are quarantined: 12 in Alberta, three in BC, and two in Saskatchewan. A full investigation is under way. Alberta Agriculture Minister Shirley McLellan was quick to point out that the inspection system worked. Yes, say critics—but can it be said to have worked well? The cow concerned was slaughtered and its carcass rendered for oil in January, its head preserved for testing. But BSE was not discovered until late May. If other animals turn up positive for BSE, it is likely heads will roll, some of them from cows. Meantime, consumers are holding their money tightly while the slaughtered cow and its late herd-mates are analyzed. To allay fears, the Prime Minister has publicly noshed down a steak before an audience of TV cameras. In this reporter’s opinion, this may not have the desired effect: with an incubation period between 12 and 20 years, the 69- year-old Chretien doesn’t have much to worry about.