News item | 01-02-2023 | 5:13 pm
A positive case of BSE (‘Mad cow disease’) was found this week in the cadaver of an 8-year-old cow in South Holland. Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (WBVR) has investigated which variant of BSE it concerns. The result of WBVR indicates that this is an atypical variant.
Atypical cases of BSE occur sporadically in older cows, a type of ‘old-age BSE’. The last time this occurred in the Netherlands was 2011. Scientists believe that the atypical variants can arise spontaneously. So far, four atypical cases have been identified in the Netherlands.
Continuation
The company of the holder of the positive case is immediately blocked. The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) has carried out source and contact research in which the offspring of this cow younger than 2 years old are killed and tested. In order to perform BSE tests on brain material, the animal must first be killed.
The NVWA’s source and contact investigation showed that the infected bovine had five offspring, one of which is still alive on the same farm. This bovine is less than 2 years old. This one is killed and tested. The remaining four offspring are older than two years, making it unlikely that transmission from mother to these calves could have taken place. They therefore do not pose a risk to public health.
All cattle born on the same farm as the infected cattle within twelve months before or after the birth of this cattle will also be killed and tested, as well as all cattle that were kept together with this infected cattle in their first year of life. and who, according to the study, received the same potentially contaminated feed during that period.
A total of 13 cattle have been traced, these are being taken away to be killed and tested. As a result, the products of these animals do not enter the food chain and therefore pose no risk to food safety. The measures will be implemented as soon as possible.
What is BSE?
BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)) is a fatal disease that occurs in cattle affecting the central nervous system. It is also a zoonosis that can cause the deadly brain disease variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob in humans. Infection can occur through consumption of infected cattle. There is therefore a European monitoring program in which all cadavers in certain risk groups are tested for the presence of BSE.The bovine that has now been found positive has been traced through this active surveillance.
There are two variants: the atypical variant that is currently being discussed, and the ‘classic variant’ that led to the BSE crisis in Europe in the 1980s. Reuse of animal proteins in animal feed was an important cause of the spread of classical BSE. This was followed by a ban on the use of certain types of processed animal proteins in animal feed for cattle.