Mad cow disease (BSE) was diagnosed in a dead cow on a farm in southern Holland. The disease was diagnosed during a routine check-up. It’s about a different so-called ‘aged variant’, which is less dangerous to humans, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. Meat does not enter the food chain.
Mad cow disease can be a ‘distinct variant’ and a ‘classic variant’. This classic variation arises when animals eat feed containing animal proteins. As more cows eat the same feed, more cows will get sick.
A so-called atypical variant is a result of the age of the cow and is not caused by contaminated feed. According to Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, the disease detected in South Holland arose spontaneously in an 8-year-old cow. This means there is now no risk to food security, writes Minister Pete Adema in a letter to Parliament.
If classic variation is involved, NVWA will investigate the cause. If so, measures should be taken to limit risks to food safety and public health. All calves of the infected animal, as well as cattle fed on the same feed or raised with the cow, are found and killed.
If people eat contaminated meat, they can get Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Brain cells die rapidly due to this disease. Once you’re infected, there’s very little you can do about it. Patients experience severe pain due to damage to the nervous system.
Now it’s about the odd variation, the positive contamination dealt with. The ministry did not want to say where the farm was located, but said it had been cordoned off. This means the company is temporarily unable to sell animal products.
Since 1997, about 88 cases of classic mad cow disease have been diagnosed in the Netherlands. Reuse of animal waste in animal feed is a major cause of disease transmission. That is why the European ban on the use of animal feed in livestock feed was imposed.
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