A case of atypical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has been confirmed on a farm in Essex, Defra’s Animal & Plant Health Agency has confirmed.
The single case of what is commonly referred to as mad cow disease was found to be atypical BSE – a naturally occurring disease in cattle that occurs spontaneously. It is distinct from classical BSE, which is linked to contaminated feed, APHA said.
The animal had showed some clinical signs of BSE and was humanely culled on farm and tested as part of Defra’s routine surveillance programme, the agency added.
There was no risk to public health or food safety from this case and the animal, as fallen stock, was not destined to enter the food chain, it stressed.
“Atypical BSE is distinct from classical BSE and is a spontaneously and sporadically occurring, non-contagious disease which is believed to occur at a very low level in all cattle populations,” said chief vet Christine Middlemiss.
“This is proof that our surveillance system for detecting and containing this type of disease is working.”
“There is no food safety risk,” said Dr James Cooper, deputy director of food policy at the Food Standards Agency. “There are strict controls in place to protect consumers from the risk of BSE, including controls on animal feed, and removal of the parts of cattle most likely to carry BSE infectivity.”
Consumers could be “reassured that these important protection measures remain in place and that FSA official veterinarians and meat hygiene inspectors working in all abattoirs in England will continue to ensure that the safety of consumers remains the top priority”, he added.
Great Britain’s overall risk status for BSE remains at ‘controlled’ and there is no risk to food safety or public health.
The World Organisation for Animal Health and trading partners have been informed of the case. This does not affect the UK’s ability to export beef to other countries.
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