An Alberta beef cow born after the 1997 ban on ruminant-to-ruminant feed was put in place has tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced Tuesday afternoon.

The animal was born in March 1998, and CFIA has traced it back to its farm of origin.

The infected animal was found as part of the Canadian government's recently accelerated national surveillance program. CFIA has control of the carcass, and none of its meat entered the food supply.

The case is puzzling because the animal was born after the feed ban. CFIA says that it possibly ate leftover feed produced before the ban went into effect. However, that is simply a theory, and authorities are investigating the situation more closely. CFIA, in a news release, said that it believes the feed ban has been highly effective and always suspected it would find infected animals born shortly after the feed ban went into effect.

The animal was discovered by Alberta authorities after a field test yielded an inconclusive result. Samples were then sent to the Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health in Winnipeg, Manitoba. "The definitive diagnosis was made today using the internationally recognized 'gold standard' test for BSE," the agency reported.