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The suspected case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy discovered
on a dairy farm outside Chilliwack, British Columbia, was
unable to stand at various times within the past two weeks,
according to Cornelius Kiley, a veterinarian with the Canadian
Food Inspection Agency, as reported by the Vancouver Sun
.
The purebred Holstein was born in April 2000 and is British
Columbia's first known case of BSE. Canadian authorities
said they expected final test results back by Sunday evening.
The CFIA has already traced the animal back to the farm
on which it was born, also near Chilliwack, and has found
its only offspring, a male calf born in 2005, which is already
dead. The search is on for siblings and herdmates.
The discovery is expected to have little or no effect on
trade with the United States, which said when reopening
the border to live cattle last year that finding as many
as 10 or 11 cases of BSE in Canada would not be unexpected
or alarming. A USDA spokesman said that the agency would
have no comment until final test results are returned.
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