Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Canada confirmed its 12th case of mad-cow disease in an animal born about five years after the nation banned some feed ingredients to halt the spread of the brain-wasting illness.

The sick animal was a six-year-old dairy cow from Alberta, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said today in a statement on its Web site. Canada and the U.S. in 1997 banned the use of cattle feed containing ground-up cattle tissue, which scientists say is the way most animals contract the disease.

No part of the animal entered the human or animal food systems, the agency said. A search is under way to find the animal's herdmates at the time of its birth and the path of infection, the CFIA said.

``The age and location of the animal are consistent with previous cases detected in Canada,'' the agency said in the statement. ``It is not expected the case should impact access to any of Canada's current international markets for beef,'' the CFIA said.

The discovery comes three months after the U.S. lifted most of the remaining restrictions on beef and cattle from Canada after determining that the animals pose ``minimal risk'' for mad-cow disease, clinically known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE. The U.S. banned cattle and beef after Canada confirmed its first case of BSE in May 2003.

`Controlled-Risk' Status

In May, Canada and the U.S. were designated ``controlled- risk'' nations for BSE by the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health, which the U.S. has used as an argument for restoration of meat trade with countries that have limited imports of its beef. The case announced today ``will not affect Canada's risk status,'' the CFIA said.

The U.S. has had three confirmed mad-cow cases since December 2003, including one in an animal born in Canada.

The CFIA said it expects to detect ``a small number of cases'' as Canada moves toward eliminating BSE from its herds.

Mad-cow disease has a fatal human form that has been linked to more than 150 human deaths worldwide, most of them in the U.K. beginning in the late 1980s. Humans contract the ailment by eating beef from infected animals.

Cattle futures for April delivery rose 0.675 cents, or 0.7 percent, to 95.5 cents a pound on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Cattle are little changed in the past year.

The diseased cow will not affect a USDA rule that allows Canadian cattle born after March 1, 1999, to be exported to the U.S., said Rachel Iadicicco, a spokeswoman for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Research has shown that a small number of animals born after 1999 are likely to be afflicted with the disease, she said.

`Ignoring Science'

The new BSE case is more evidence that Canada's preventative measures aren't working, said Max Thornsberry, a Missouri veterinarian and president of the Billings, Montana- based Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America, or R-Calf. He noted that the infected animal is the seventh born after Canada's feed ban was implemented.

``USDA is ignoring science by dismissing the empirical evidence that shows Canada's BSE problem has worsened beyond anyone's expectations, and Canada's cattle herd represents a significant risk to the United States,'' Thornsberry said in a news release. The group wants Congress to stop imports of Canadian cattle.

A spokesman for the U.S. National Cattlemen's Beef Association said Canada's safety measures are working and that a few cases of BSE are to be expected.

``The Canadian Food Inspection Agency made it clear they expect to find a small number of additional cases as both countries work toward eradication,'' said Joe Schuele, a spokesman for the association in Denver.

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Enoch in Washington at denoch@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 26, 2008 18:01 EST