Dutch government reports 1 case of mad cow disease on farm
The government of the Netherlands says a cow that died recently on a Dutch farm has tested positive for mad cow disease
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A cow that died recently on a Dutch farm tested positive for mad cow disease, the government of the Netherlands announced Wednesday, in a rare case of the cattle illness that can cause a fatal brain disease in people who eat tainted beef.
The farm where the cow died has been sealed off, Agriculture Minister Piet Adema said in a letter to lawmakers. He added that the infected animal “did not get into the food chain and does not constitute a risk to food safety.”
Formally called bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, the disease first broke out in the late 1980s among cattle in Britain. Hundreds of people fell ill with the human equivalent, a brain disorder called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and many died. Over the years, 4.5 million cattle were slaughtered to contain the spread.
The number of BSE cases plummeted after bans were introduced on feed that included meat and bone meal from infected cows believed to cause the disease.
