SÃO PAULO (BDCi) – A second case of atypical mad cow disease in Brazil was confirmed Friday (9), one year after some countries banned beef imports from Brazil due to another confirmed case of the disease.
A lab in England also confirmed that this case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, was spontaneous and atypical, not linked to any contaminated feed.
In March, the 12-year-old cow found dead in Mato Grosso had never left the farm it came from and was fed by pasture grazing and mineral salts.
Mad cow usually occurs when the feed given to cattle contains brain or spinal tissue of other ruminant animals, a practice forbidden in most beef-producing counties, like Brazil.
After ingesting the contaminated feed, the cattle are exposed to the mad cow protein. In the two atypical cases, the protein was contracted spontaneously and not through the feed.
Another unusual case from Paraná in 2010 found that a cow who had developed the protein never showed signs of having the disease and died of natural causes.
Though the World Animal Health Organization maintains that Brazil has an insignificant risk of mad cow disease, several nations like China and Egypt have banned some or all beef imports from the world’s top exporter.
By: Diego Díaz Source: Reuters Photo: Fox News Latino 12 May 2014
9:00 a.m. P.D.T.