The US Department of Agriculture says there should be no concern about safety of food supply after discovery of BSE.A newly discovered case of mad cow disease in a US dairy herd apparently arose from a one-off mutation that was picked up during random surveillance at an abattoir in California.
The animal was tested as part of a regular inspection programme organised by the US Department of Agriculture that examines tissue from 40,000 slaughtered cattle each year.
Dr John Clifford, the USDA's chief veterinary officer, said the department was continuing its investigation of the case, but added "there should be no concern … about the safety of our food supply."
Despite assertions from Clifford that the case should not affect trade in meat, two of South Korea's largest importers of US beef halted sales.
The disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is caused by misfolded proteins called prions, which build up in the brain with fatal consequences.
Unlike the viruses that cause many other diseases in farm animals, prions do not spread through casual contact or by coughs and sneezes. The infectious prions are concentrated in certain tissues of the animals, such as the nervous system.
The animal was tested as part of a regular inspection programme organised by the US Department of Agriculture that examines tissue from 40,000 slaughtered cattle each year.
Dr John Clifford, the USDA's chief veterinary officer, said the department was continuing its investigation of the case, but added "there should be no concern … about the safety of our food supply."
Despite assertions from Clifford that the case should not affect trade in meat, two of South Korea's largest importers of US beef halted sales.
The disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is caused by misfolded proteins called prions, which build up in the brain with fatal consequences.
Unlike the viruses that cause many other diseases in farm animals, prions do not spread through casual contact or by coughs and sneezes. The infectious prions are concentrated in certain tissues of the animals, such as the nervous system.
