Tuesday, November 29, 2016

CFIA orders mass slaughter of cattle

About 10,000 head of cattle in the Medicine Hat region will be slaughtered by order of federal animal health inspectors, officials said Monday. Canadian Food Inspection Agency say its likely the animals came in close contact with bovine tuberculosis during the grazing season. CFIA workers have been tracing movement of cows for weeks from about three dozen quarantined ranches after a cow from Jenner tested positive in a U.S. slaughterhouse. Senior CFIA officials told reporters Monday they now believe the index herd, from which the first cow came, commingled on grazing leases with cattle owned by an undisclosed number of ranchers and which returned to 18 different locations. That number of locations sat at six premises last week, said Dr. Harpeet Kochhar, the CFIA’s chief veterinarian, adding figures typically change as tracing in conducted. “This was to be expected,” said Kochhar. “Nearly all the cattle on the 18 premises have been tested and their removal and the humane destruction of all cattle on those premises is continuing.” The number of positive reactions from medical testing has not risen from six, a figure reported weeks ago, he said. All 10,000 will go to a contracted abattoir in Lacombe, where the carcasses will be subject to physical internal inspection. The meat will be allowed into the food supply if cattle are negative from both tests...more

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