The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed a case of mad cow disease in a mature bull from Alberta.
"At this point in time, we do not know for sure whether the animal was born after the feed ban or not," the agency's Dr. George Luterbach told Â鶹´«Ã½net.
"This will be part of the investigation."
CFIA issued a news release late Wednesday saying preliminary information indicates the bull "falls well within the age range of previous cases detected in Canada under the national BSE surveillance program."
The would indicate the animal was probably "exposed to a very small amount of infective material, most likely during its first year of life."
The agency is conducting an investigation to identify what the animal was fed early in its life and to identify its herdmates, it said.
The CFI wouldn't reveal the farm's location in Alberta.
"The animal's carcass is under CFIA control, and no part of it entered the human food or animal feed systems," the agency said.
As of Wednesday, Canada had found eight confirmed cases of BSE. There had been three discovered in the U.S.
The BSE monitoring program discovered five new cases in Canada in 2005.
One of those cases involved a cow born five years after new rules were adopted to prevent the disease's spread.
Just last month, the White House said it hoped to increase Canadian cattle and beef imports. The U.S. banned live Canadian cattle from crossing its borders from 2003 to 2005.
Imports are now restricted to cattle younger than 30 months; analysts say older animals have a higher risk of being infected with BSE.
But in January the U.S. Agriculture Department said it hoped to reopen the border to Canadian beef and cattle older than 30 months. Live animals sent to the U.S. for slaughter or breeding must be born on or after March 1, 1999, The Associated Press reported.
"This proposal would continue to protect against BSE in the United States while taking the next step forward in our efforts to implement science-based trade relations with countries that have appropriate safeguards in place to prevent BSE,'' Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said last month.
It's unclear how Wednesday's announcement of another Canadian BSE case would affect the U.S. Agriculture Department's proposal.
Canada has a strict feed ban to prevent the spread of mad cow disease. The ban, implemented in 1997, prohibits the use of cattle parts susceptible to BSE in certain animal feeds.
With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press
