A case of atypical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) has been confirmed in an 11-year-old cow in the state of Alabama in the US.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said that the animal never entered slaughter channels and at no time presented a risk to the food supply, or human health.

The animal was showing clinical signs of the disease and was found through routine surveillance at an Alabama livestock market.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and Alabama veterinary officials are gathering more information on the case.

Types of BSE

There are two types of BSE – classical and atypical.

Classical BSE is the form that occurs primarily in the UK. It was first detected in the late 1980s.

The primary source of infection for classical BSE is feed contaminated with the infectious prion agent, such as meat-and-bone meal containing protein derived from rendered infected cattle.

Atypical BSE generally occurs in older cattle, usually eight years or older. It seems to arise rarely and spontaneously in all cattle populations.

This is the fifth detection of BSE in the US. Of the four previous cases, the first was a case of classical BSE that was imported from Canada; the rest have been atypical (H- or L-type) BSE.

The US has negligible risk status for BSE.

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