캐나다에서 17번째 광우병 사례가 확인되었다는 로이터 통신의 2010년 3월 10일자 뉴스입니다.
17번째 광우병 소는 2004년 2월생(72개월령)이며, 현재까지 캐나다에서 발생한 광우병 소 중에서 가장 늦게 태어난 소입니다. 이전까지는 2008년 6월에 확인된 13번째 광우병 소가 2003년 4월생(61개월령)이었습니다.
캐나다는 2004년 2월부터 11년이 경과하는 기간 동안 “무시해도 될 만한 광우병 위험(negligible status)” 등급으로 승격될 수 없습니다. 현재 캐나다는 국제수역사무국(OIE)으로부터 통제된 광우병 위험 국가(controlled risk status) 등급 판정을 받은 상태입니다.
캐나다 정부는 이미 지난 2월 말 17번째 광우병 소를 확인했으나 보도자료를 통해 이를 발표하지 않았다고 합니다.
캐나다산 쇠고기 수입 문제로 캐나다 정부가 한국정부를 WTO에 제소한 현 상황과 관련하여 캐나다측에 17번째 광우병 소의 역학조사 자료를 요청할 필요가 있다고 생각합니다.
로이터통신의 뉴스 전문은 다음과 같습니다.
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Canada mad cow case delays OIE status change
출처 : Reuters Wed Mar 10, 5:28 pm ET
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) – Canada has confirmed its 17th case of mad cow disease, a finding that will delay any upgrade to its international risk status by one year, a top industry official said on Wednesday.
The animal was born in February 2004, making it Canada’s latest-born case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The new case pushes back the earliest date for an upgrade to Canada’s controlled risk status from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) to 2016, said Ted Haney, president of the Canada Beef Export Federation.
A country cannot apply to upgrade to negligible status sooner than 11 years after the latest-born case of BSE. The process then takes about one year.
Canada, along with many other countries with controlled risk status from the OIE, can ship beef as long as it meets conditions such as disease surveillance.
The infected animal, which has been slaughtered, has not affected trade, Haney said.
The 2003 discovery of the first case of mad cow disease on a Canadian farm caused many countries to halt imports of Canadian beef. Most markets have since reopened, but the cattle industry remains in a slump due to other factors such as a strong Canadian dollar.
Mad cow disease is believed to be spread when cattle eat protein rendered from the brains and spines of infected cattle or sheep. Canada banned that practice in 1997.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency tightened feed rules further in 2007 and said the moves should help eliminate the disease nationally within a decade, although the agency cautioned it still expected to discover the occasional new case.
CFIA spokeswoman Julie LePage confirmed the 17th case but could not provide details of the new case.
The CFIA notified cattle industry officials of the new case late last month, but did not issue a news release, Haney said.
(Reporting by Rod Nickel, editing by Julie Ingwersen)