From: "John Beamish" 

See below.

"Randall Parker"
 wrote in
message news:3fecbeb6{at}w3.nls.net...
> BTW, The feeding of animal brain material to cows in the United States was
banned in
> 1997 in order to reduce the risk of prion infection.
>

There are similar bans in Canada -- also since 1997.

> The disease takes years to develop. Does anyone know how old this cow was
that was
> killed on Dec 9 2003 and found to be positive for the mad cow prions? Do
cows live
> for 6 whole years before being slaughtered? I'd have expected a shorter
period of time.
>
> Or maybe the cow got it from its mother in gestation? Is that possible?
>
> Also, a Canadian friend says live cows get shipped routinely between the
United
> States and Canada. Does Canada ban the feeding of animal brain material to
cows?
>

There is constant trans-border shipping (both directions) of live and
slaughtered cattle (also horses, swine, sheep, goats, etc.).

Canada bans feeding brain material to ruminants (it is a broader ban than
just "brain material") but I wouldn't be surprised if it matches
any equivalent bans in the US.

(And, no, I don't "know" all this stuff.  I goggled
"Government Canada BSE" and then read a variety of pages.)

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5