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Mad cow disease found in California; no human threat seen
Source: Agencies |
April 25, 2012, Wednesday
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US authorities reported the country's first case of mad cow disease in six years yesterday, and swiftly assured consumers and global importers that there was no danger of meat from the California dairy cow entering the food chain.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the finding posed "no risk to the food supply or to human health," and experts said they were relieved by the fact that the case was "atypical" -- meaning it was a rare occurrence in which a cow contracts the disease spontaneously, rather than through the feed supply.
However, fears of a potential backlash among consumers and big importers of US beef fueled a sell-off in Chicago live cattle futures, with memories still sharp of the first case in 2003 that caused a US$3 billion drop in exports. It took until 2011 before those exports fully recovered.
There is no evidence that humans can catch mad cow -- or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)-- from drinking the milk of an infected cow. The risk of transmission generally comes when the brain or spinal tissue is consumed by humans or another animal, which did not occur in this case.
First discovered in Great Britain in 1986, the disease has killed more than 150 people and 184,000 cows globally, mainly in Britain and Europe, but strict controls have tempered its spread. The first US case was found in late 2003 in an animal imported from Canada, followed by two more in 2005 and 2006. Two of those cases were also "atypical."
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the finding posed "no risk to the food supply or to human health," and experts said they were relieved by the fact that the case was "atypical" -- meaning it was a rare occurrence in which a cow contracts the disease spontaneously, rather than through the feed supply.
However, fears of a potential backlash among consumers and big importers of US beef fueled a sell-off in Chicago live cattle futures, with memories still sharp of the first case in 2003 that caused a US$3 billion drop in exports. It took until 2011 before those exports fully recovered.
There is no evidence that humans can catch mad cow -- or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)-- from drinking the milk of an infected cow. The risk of transmission generally comes when the brain or spinal tissue is consumed by humans or another animal, which did not occur in this case.
First discovered in Great Britain in 1986, the disease has killed more than 150 people and 184,000 cows globally, mainly in Britain and Europe, but strict controls have tempered its spread. The first US case was found in late 2003 in an animal imported from Canada, followed by two more in 2005 and 2006. Two of those cases were also "atypical."
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