Another Canadian cow has been discovered with mad cow disease by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, according to a news release from the Canadian agency.

The newest case was found in a 13-year-old Alberta beef cow, meaning the cow was born before Canada instituted its ban on feeding ruminant animal byproducts to cattle in 1997. It is the 11th cow found in Canada with mad cow disease and the 12th originating in that country, according to R-CALF USA, a U.S. cattle group.

Animal scientists say mad cow disease, known scientifically as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is transmitted to cattle by contaminated feed.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said no part of the infected cow entered the human food supply or animal feed systems. The agency stepped up its feed ban last summer to prohibit materials at risk for infection such as brain and spinal-column tissue from any animal feed.

But Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America

and some other U.S. cattle groups, including the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association, say the United States should reinstate its ban on Canadian cattle over 30 months of age from entering the country. Animal scientists say BSE typically doesn't appear in cattle younger than 30 months old.

R-CALF USA and the Stockgrowers say the flow of older Canadian cattle and beef poses a risk of infection to the U.S. cattle herd.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture earlier this year opened the border to Canadian cattle older than 30 months. R-CALF, the Stockgrowers Association and individuals have filed suit in federal court to stop the border reopening.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said it has "robust" BSE control measures that exceed the recommended international standards. "The CFIA expects to detect a small number of cases over the next 10 years as Canada progresses towards its goal of eliminating the disease from the national cattle herd," a news release from the agency said.

R-CALF USA president Max Thornsberry, a Missouri veterinarian, called Canada's BSE control measures inadequate.

"Had this 13-year-old cow not been detected under Canada's limited, voluntary testing program, the meat from that cow would have been eligible for export to the United States," Thornsberry said. He said the USDA is acting irresponsibly by allowing higher-risk beef and cattle into the U.S. food supply.

Thornsberry said it is likely that other BSE-infected cattle and beef from BSE-infected cattle are making their way to beef consumers in the U.S.

Other cattle groups, however, including the South Dakota Cattlemen's Association, say there are adequate measures in place to prevent infected beef products from entering the food chain. "There are adequate protections and regulations in both countries to protect consumers from eating infected beef products made from brain, spinal cord and other nonmeat portions of the animal," SDCA president Scott Jones of Midland said.

Jones said there is no credible threat to the U.S. cattle herd because the disease is not communicable.

The lawsuit filed by R-CALF and other groups and individuals has been transferred from federal court in Aberdeen to U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol in Sioux Falls, an R-CALF spokeswoman said earlier this week.

Contact Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com