Mad moo-cow disease – or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy ( BSE ) – has made a rare appearance in the US , although the detection of the condition in a unmarried moo-cow in South Carolina does not pose any risk to people . According to the US Department of Agriculture ( USDA ) , the creature was identify and isolated before it had a chance to enter the commercial bitch supply , while the fact that the disease is not transmittable mean other cows remain unaffected .
“ This animal never entered whipping channels and at no sentence presented a risk to the food supply or to human wellness in the United States , ” said the USDA in astatement . “ give the United States ’ negligible endangerment condition for BSE , we do not carry any trade impacts as a solvent of this finding . ”
BSE is a neurological disease that is stimulate by misfolded protein calledprionswithin an animal ’s brain . These prions then regulate the protein folding of next proteins , resulting in neurodegeneration .
eat foul meat has been linked to a calamitous condition calledCreutzfeldt - Jakobdisease , otherwise known as subacute spongiform brain disorder . Most citizenry who develop this illness die within a yr of diagnosing , which is why rigorous communications protocol are now in place to prevent the spread of BSE through cattle populations .
First observe in the UK in 1986 , BSE survive in two distinct variant , known as Graeco-Roman and atypical BSE . The former happens when cows are fed product containing tissues from septic fauna , while the latter uprise impromptu as prion proteins randomly transform from a normal to an unnatural state .
According to the USDA , the infected animal in South Carolina tested positive for atypical BSE , and was therefore not unwrap to dangerous provender . In the US , the use of moo-cow protein in cattle provender was outlawed in 1997 – a forbiddance that has successfully prevented animate being from becoming infected with classical BSE .
While scientist still do n’t fully read how atypical BSE move up , stringent surveillance and testing of oxen have assure that no cow channel the disease enter the food for thought supply .
The first case of BSE in the US occur in2003 , when a moo-cow imported from Canada was confirm to have classical BSE as a solution of exposure to polluted provender before entering the country . Since then , six cases of atypical BSE have been confirmed , include the newly identified example .
old BSE outbreaks in various country across the world have leave in massive disruptions to the commercial beef industry and caused billions of one dollar bill deserving of losses . However , the USDA insists that “ this finding of an atypical case will not shift the paltry risk position of the United States , and should not conduct to any trade topic . ”
