The feed included meat and bone meal, banned since 1997 as part of safeguards to protect against the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE.

Seven of the farms are located in the Saskatoon area, while two are in the Swift Current area in the southwest part of the province, Dr. George Luterbach, the chief veterinarian for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency , said in a conference call with reporters.

Two of the farms are dairies, two are deer farms and five are beef cattle ranches, Luterbach said. About 8,000 animals were on the quarantined farms.

The feed mill purchased feather meal, a poultry product that is allowed in cattle feed, but a mix-up at the supplier resulted in meat and bone meal being provided, Luterbach said. The feed mill notified the Canadian Food Inspection Agency as soon as the mix-up was discovered.

The agency moved to recall the tainted feed and investigated all farms that received it, Luterbach said. They discovered nine farms that unknowingly fed the feed and placed them under quarantine. Animals exposed to the feed have been identified and placed under control and restricted to the farms while a risk assessment is conducted.

The tainted feed has been recovered and feed bins and storage units have been cleaned, he said.

He said it was premature to speculate if animals that received the feed would be slaughtered. The risk assessment will determine the age of the animals, the amounts of feed they may have consumed and the source of the meat and bone meal, he said.

Source: Capital Press