France's Agriculture Ministry confirmed on Thursday that a case of mad cow disease was discovered in the northeastern region of Ardennes, the first in the country since 2011.
Authorities in the European Union suspected the case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), more commonly known as mad cow disease, was present in a 5-year-old cow from a cattle farm in Ardennes who died prematurely.
The case was first reported to the European Commission and the veterinary watchdog in Paris, the World Organization for Animal Health. The European Union reference laboratory verified it was in fact a case of mad cow disease on March 23.
However, the Agriculture Ministry told the public on Thursday that beef in France is safe to consume because all parts of the cow that have the possibility of being infected are required to be removed from the slaughter house.
"The detection of this case has no impact for the consumer," the ministry said.
Even though the reported case shouldn't scare people away from ordering a hamburger, it could have an effect on exports in the country. The case could lower France's safety grade based on the risk level of BSE, making it harder to export beef.
There were four cases of mad cow discovered in Europe in 2015, but this is the first case for France in five years. The disease spread widely throughout France and the U.K. in the '90s and early 2000s, but has since been in decline in the recent years.
BSE is a disease that affects the brains and damages the central nervous systems of cattle. The cows are said to only show symptoms four to six years after falling ill with the disease. These symptoms include having a hard time getting up and lack of coordination. At that point, the cow is expected to die in as soon as a few weeks.
Humans can contract mad cow disease after consuming beef that is infected. We get what is called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease that also has symptoms of lack of coordination as well as depression and dementia, and which can lead to death.
Source: Reuters
Photo: Bas Leenders | Flickr
