A case of classical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has been confirmed in a cow on a farm in Dumfries and Galloway, authorities have said.
The Scottish Government said precautionary movement restrictions have been put in place on the offspring of the animal and its cohort at the impacted premises. Further investigations to identify the origin of the disease are ongoing, as is standard procedure for a confirmed case of classical BSE, commonly known as mad cow disease.
The Scottish Government said the case was identified as a result of its routine BSE surveillance and stringent control measures that are in place. The animal did not enter the human food chain, and Food Standards Scotland has confirmed there is no risk to human health as a result of the case.
Swift action by authorities
Scotland’s agriculture minister Jim Fairlie said: “Following confirmation of a case of classical BSE in Dumfries and Galloway, the Scottish Government and other agencies acted swiftly and decisively to protect the agriculture sector.
“The fact we identified this isolated case so quickly is clear proof that our surveillance system for detecting this type of disease is working effectively. I want to thank the animal’s owner for their diligence. Their swift action allowed us to identify and isolate the case immediately, minimising its impact on the wider industry.”
The owners of the affected animals are working with authorities on next steps. The Animal Plant and Health Agency (APHA) is investigating the source of the disease.
Surveillance and control measures
Under Scotland’s surveillance system, all animals more than four years of age that die on farms are routinely tested for BSE. Authorities said that while the disease is not directly transmitted from animal to animal, the cow’s cohorts including offspring have been traced and isolated and will be destroyed in line with legal requirements.
Scotland was hit in a UK-wide outbreak of BSE in the 1980s and 1990s which saw 178 people die in confirmed or probable cases of vCJD, the human form of BSE, contracted through eating infected beef. An exact number of Scottish deaths was never officially confirmed, but formal geographic breakdowns attributed a slightly higher per-capita incidence rate to Scotland and Northern England than the rest of the UK. Over four million cattle were slaughtered in an effort to contain the outbreak.
British beef was banned from export to numerous countries around the world due to the outbreak, and strict measures were put in place to contain any future outbreaks.
