Farmers from more than 40 ranches in Alberta and Saskatchewan are wondering what kind of compensation and business lies ahead for them as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) cracks down on a bovine tuberculosis outbreak in Western Canada.
In late September, the CFIA discovered a cow with bovine tuberculosis linked to Brad Osadczuk's ranch in Jenner, Alta., and launched an investigation which confirmed five other cases tied to his herd.
It placed his entire operation under quarantine.
"At this point all 1,200 of our cows, 1,200 calves and 53 bulls are all going to be destroyed," Osadczuk said.
His family is hardly alone. Since September, the CFIA has placed nearly 22,000 cattle in more than 40 herds across Alberta and Saskatchewan under quarantine. Among them, 10,000 are to be destroyed.
Roots of disease unclear
The agency's chief veterinarian, Harpreet Kochhar, said the steps it has been taking are necessary in order to make sure the infection does not spread further.
He said the positive cases so far were present at community pastures where the originally infected cow had been grazing.
"We're continuing to do the testing and processing," he said, "… which means the number of farms under quarantine may increase and the number of animals under quarantine may increase."
Ten thousand cattle are to be killed because they may have had some point of contact with the six infected cases so far.
Completing the testing for the remaining 12,000 could take months.
Source : CBC