Mad cow disease (BSE) was found in a dead cow on a farm in South Holland. The disease was discovered during a regular check. This concerns the so-called atypical age variant, which is less dangerous for humans, reports the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. The meat did not enter the food chain.
Mad cow disease can be an atypical variant or the classic variant. The latter variant arises when animals eat feed containing animal proteins. Often several cows have eaten the same feed, so that more can become ill.
A so-called atypical variant is the result of the cow’s age and is not caused by contaminated feed. According to Wageningen Bioveterinary Research, the disease that was found in South Holland arose spontaneously in the eight-year-old cow. This means that there is now no danger to food safety, writes Minister of Agriculture Piet Adema in a letter to parliament.
If there had been the classic variant, the food watchdog NVWA would have investigated the cause. In that case, measures should have been taken to control risks to food safety and public health. All calves of the infected animal and cattle that have had the same feed or grew up with the cow are traced and killed.
Farm is temporarily unable to dispose of or sell animal products
If people eat contaminated meat, they can get Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. This disease causes brain cells to die at a rapid rate. Once you are infected, there is little you can do about it. Patients experience severe pain due to damage to the nervous system.
Now that it concerns the atypical variant, the positive contamination has been dealt with. The ministry does not want to say where the farm is exactly, but does report that it has been blocked. This means that the company is temporarily unable to sell or dispose of animal products.
Since 1997, about 88 cases of classic mad cow disease have been diagnosed in the Netherlands. Reuse of animal remains in animal feed was a major cause of the spread of the disease. That is why a European ban on the use of meat-and-bone meal in cattle feed followed.
