Mad cow disease found on a farm in the Netherlands

A cow found on a farm in the Netherlands this week tested positive for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, better known as BSE or mad cow disease. The cow "did not enter the food chain, and therefore does not pose a direct risk to public health," the Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement sent to the Tweede Kamer on Wednesday. People who eat meat from an infected cow can potentially develop Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal neurological disease.

It is the first time since 2011 that a cow infected with BSE has been found in the Netherlands. Animals can contract mad cow disease through the food they consume. It is possible that more animals will test positive for the disease during an investigation launched immediately by food safety authority NVWA. The location of the farm was not released.

"Offspring, and animals that have had the same feed, and animals that have grown up with this bovine are being tracked down, tested for BSE," and will be put down, Agriculture Minister Piet Adema said. "There is a chance that other cattle have also eaten this feed and become infected from it. In that case, measures must be taken to manage risks to food safety and public health."

Research into the infection and its cause now underway

There are essentially two types of BSE, classical and atypical. The classical variant has caused all known cases of Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans where the patient was infected from eating meat. There are no known of a human developing the disease as a result of cattle infected with atypical BSE. Scientists are currently trying to determine which affected the infected cow.

"The 'classic' variant is the variant that was first found in Great Britain in 1986. Since 1997, 88 cases of classical BSE have been found in the Netherlands," Adema said. "Reuse of animal proteins in animal feed was an important cause of the spread of classical BSE in cattle. This led to a European ban on the use of meat and bone meal in animal feed for cattle," Adema explained.

The atypical variant can sometimes occur in older cows, he said. This develops spontaneously, and without any apparent infection from an outside source. It is considered to be very rare, with only a few dozen cases worldwide, and is mainly found in older animals. The last case of mad cow disease in the Netherlands was caused by the atypical variant.

Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is always fatal

Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a fatal prion disease that has an extremely long incubation period. Once it is able to be diagnosed, the illness typically lasts a little over a year, causing psychiatric and behavioral problems to develop, as well as neurological symptoms, like pain, numbness, and the sensation of burning or tingling.

"The disease always progresses to death," said the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The organization said that 226 people worldwide died from Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease between 1996 and 2015. That includes three people who died in the Netherlands.

Researchers at the Wageningen BioVeterinary Research have been tasked with identifying which variant of BSE was found in the infected cow. "As soon as this result is known, we will inform you as soon as possible," Adema told the Tweede Kamer.