A Canadian cow is pictured in a field near Teulon, Manitoba, in this July 28, 2006 file photo. A new case of mad cow disease has been confirmed in Canada, raising the total cases discovered in the country since 2003 to 15.   (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    OTTAWA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- A new case of mad cow disease has been confirmed in Canada, raising the total cases discovered in the country since 2003 to 15.

    The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said Monday the sick animal was a seven-year-old dairy cow on a farm in the western coast province of British Columbia. No part of the animal's carcass entered the human food or animal feed supply, it said.

    The animal was born after Canada banned certain cow feed made of cattle or sheep parts, which was deemed as the source of the contamination.

    "The age and location of the infected animal are consistent with previous cases detected in Canada," said the CFIA, which has blamed infected feed for most of the earlier cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE in the country.

    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.

    Canada has been deemed a "controlled risk" country for mad cow disease by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) because it has implemented strict surveillance and control measures. The CFIA said the new case should not affect that classification.