• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Atypical Case Of Mad Cow Disease Detected In The US

May 22, 2023 by Deborah Bloomfield

Mad cow disease – or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) – has made a rare appearance in the US, although the detection of the condition in a single cow in South Carolina does not pose any danger to people. According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the animal was identified and isolated before it had a chance to enter the commercial beef supply, while the fact that the disease is not contagious means other cows remain unaffected.

“This animal never entered slaughter channels and at no time presented a risk to the food supply or to human health in the United States,” said the USDA in a statement. “Given the United States’ negligible risk status for BSE, we do not expect any trade impacts as a result of this finding.”

Advertisement

BSE is a neurological disease that is caused by misfolded proteins called prions within an animal’s brain. These prions then influence the folding of adjacent proteins, resulting in neurodegeneration.

Eating contaminated meat has been linked to a fatal condition called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, otherwise known as subacute spongiform encephalopathy. Most people who develop this illness die within a year of diagnosis, which is why strict protocols are now in place to prevent the spread of BSE through cattle populations.

First detected in the UK in 1986, BSE exists in two distinct forms, known as classical and atypical BSE. The former occurs when cows are fed products containing tissues from infected animals, while the latter arises spontaneously as prion proteins randomly transform from a normal to an abnormal state.

According to the USDA, the infected animal in South Carolina tested positive for atypical BSE, and was therefore not exposed to dangerous feed. In the US, the use of cow proteins in cattle feed was outlawed in 1997 – a ban that has successfully prevented animals from becoming infected with classical BSE.

Advertisement

While scientists still don’t fully understand how atypical BSE arises, stringent surveillance and testing of cattle have ensured that no cows carrying the disease enter the food supply.

The first case of BSE in the US occurred in 2003, when a cow imported from Canada was confirmed to have classical BSE as a result of exposure to contaminated feed before entering the country. Since then, six cases of atypical BSE have been confirmed, including the newly identified example.

Previous BSE outbreaks in various countries across the world have resulted in massive disruptions to the commercial beef industry and caused billions of dollars worth of losses. However, the USDA insists that “this finding of an atypical case will not change the negligible risk status of the United States, and should not lead to any trade issues.” 

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Tennis-Britain’s Channel 4 nets 9.2 million viewers for Raducanu’s historic title
  2. While Britney Spears rejoices, her father’s attorney calls conservator suspension ‘wrong’
  3. Doctor Performs The World’s First Vasectomy Powered By A Car Battery
  4. The Creator Of The Internet Wants To Reinvent It By Giving Everyone Their Own AI

Source Link: Atypical Case Of Mad Cow Disease Detected In The US

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • Have You Seen This Snake? Florida Wants Your Help Finding Rare Species Seen Once In 50 Years
  • Plague Confirmed In Lake Tahoe Area For First Time In 5 Years, California Officials Say
  • Supergiant Star Spotted Blowing Milky Way’s Largest Bubble Of Its Kind, Surprising Astronomers
  • Game Theory Promised To Explain Human Decisions. Did It?
  • Genes, Hormones, And Hairstyling – Here Are Some Causes Of Hair Loss You Might Not Have Heard Of
  • Answer To 30-Year-Old Mystery Code Embedded In The Kryptos CIA Sculpture To Be Sold At Auction
  • Merry Mice: Human Brain Cells Transplanted Into Mice Reduce Anxiety And Depression
  • Asteroid-Bound NASA Mission Snaps Earth-Moon Portrait From 290 Million Kilometers Away
  • Forget State Mammals – Some States Have Official Dinosaurs, And They’re Awesome
  • Female Jumping Spiders Of Two Species Prefer The Sexy Red Males Of One, Leading To Hybridization
  • Why Is It So Difficult To Find New Moons In The Solar System?
  • New “Oxygen-Breathing” Crystal Could Recharge Fuel Cells And More
  • Some Gut Bacteria Cause Insomnia While Others Protect Against It, 400,000-Person Study Argues
  • Neanderthals And Homo Sapiens Got It On 100,000 Years Earlier Than We Thought
  • “Womb Of The Universe”: Native American Tribal Elders Help Archaeologists Decipher Ancient Rock Art In Missouri Cave
  • 16,000-Year-Old Paintings Suggest Prehistoric Humans Risked Their Lives To Enter “Shaman Training Cave”
  • Final Gasps Of A Dying Star Seen Through A Record-Breaking 130 Years Of Data
  • COVID-19 “Vaccine Alternative” Injection Could Be On Fast-Track To Approval From FDA
  • New Jersey Officials Investigate Possible First Locally Acquired Malaria Case Since 1991
  • First-of-Its-Kind Bright Orange Nurse Shark Recorded Off Costa Rica Makes History
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version