What Really Caused the Last Mad Cow Disease Outbreak in Canada

Last February, Peru, Belarus, South Korea, Indonesia, and Taiwan suspended the importation of delicious Canadian beef.

The reason for this drastic measure was to avoid the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or "mad cow disease," which had been detected in two Black Angus cows, who, it turned out, were born on the same Alberta farm, before tougher regulation was brought in to minimize the spread of BSE.

Though the ban was precautionary and temporary, the question immediately became how did two cows contract the deadly neurodegenerative disease in a country where 430,000 cows have been tested for it since 2005?

This week, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) released a report in which all signs point to contaminated cattle feed. Entitled "Report on the Investigation of the Nineteenth Case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in Canada," the CFIA investigation suggests that proper storage and management of feed at the Alberta farm in question seemed to be lacking.

"With two BSE cases diagnosed on the same birth farm the investigation of possible residual feed contamination on farm was conducted," the report states. "Considering the management practices and timelines of the two cases, it was not possible to rule out the potential for the carry-over of a small amount of residual contaminated feed on the farm."

In all likelihood, the two Black Angus cows in this case would have eaten contaminated feed at their birth farm. These Canadian cases also confirmed earlier studies from the UK which corroborated feed contamination as the main culprit.

"The extensive UK experience with BSE led to the conclusion that the ingestion of contaminated feed remains the most likely source of BSE in infected animals born after the implementation of a feed ban," according to the CFIA report.

The good news is that the neither of the cows ever made it into the food supply or the animal feed system. "The carcass was secured at the sampling site, obtained by and transferred to CFIA's laboratory in Lethbridge for incineration. No part of the carcass entered the human food supply or animal feed chain."

In 2003, one single case of BSE dealt a $5 billion blow to cattle producers and devastated Canada's beef industry after roughly 40 countries closed their borders to Canadian cattle.

2015 has also been a rough year for the beef industry in Canada. Earlier this year, the Canada Eurasia Business Association claimed that the Canadian meat industry lost $500 million because of anti-Russia sanctions that have been imposed on a country that was once a $2.3 billion trade partner.

But with these "mad cow" cases isolated to one farm, and federal regulators reassuring Canada's trade partners, it's time for Canadians to do their patriotic duty and start eating more Black Angus steaks.