A 17th case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has been confirmed in Canada this week, just days after the Australian Government beefed up its quarantine requirements for imports from countries which have had BSE.
The Federal Government controversially lifted its ban on the beef imports at the start of this month, but after much public opposition the Government upgraded its biosecurity requirements from a risk assessment to a two-year import risk analysis, making it much harder for prospective exporters to access the Australian market.
This latest Canadian case was actually detected almost two weeks ago, and allegedly kept quiet by officials.
The Canadian Government has since notified the World Trade Organisation of the outbreak.
The detection is not believed to have affected trade, but will delay Canada's upgrade to "controlled risk" status to the WTO.
The case was detected through Canada's voluntary national disease surveillance program.
The latest case of BSE was found in May last year, while in 2008 there were four cases detected, three cases in 2007 and five cases in 2006.
Nearly all have been found in the Alberta region.
The cow would have been eligible for export to the United States for domestic slaughter, according to American cattleman's lobby, R-CALF.
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