As of: 02/01/2023 9:26 p.m
It is the first case since 2011 in the Netherlands: a dead cow tested positive for the animal disease BSE. However, it is now clear that this is a variant that is less dangerous for humans.
A recently deceased cow on a Dutch farm has tested positive for mad cow disease. The yard was cordoned off, said Minister of Agriculture Piet Adema. However, there was no danger to humans because the meat did not end up in food processing.
The Dutch authorities later explained that the deceased cow was infected with an atypical variant of BSE, which sometimes occurs in older cows and is less dangerous for humans. The animal was therefore already eight years old. It was the first case of mad cow disease in the atypical variant in the Netherlands since 2011.
Classic BSE variant can be dangerous to humans
The classic variant of BSE is spread via contaminated feed. People who eat meat from cows infected with this BSE variant can contract Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, an often fatal brain disease.
Before it was determined in the current case that it was not this more dangerous variant, the Minister of Agriculture had announced that 13 other animals were to be culled. These are descendants of the dead cow, cattle that were kept with her and those that had received the same feed.