Latest news with #Creutzfeldt-Jakob
LeMonde
21-05-2025
- Health
- LeMonde
UK identifies atypical case of mad cow disease
A case of atypical "mad cow disease" has been found on a farm in eastern England, Britain's animal health agency said on Tuesday, May 20, but authorities said there was no food risk. A cow in the county of Essex showed clinical signs of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), as the neurologic disease is officially termed, and was culled on site, it said. The news came one day after Britain signed a post-Brexit agreement with the European Union, including a deal to reduce checks on food and plant products. BSE was first identified in Britain almost 40 years ago and has since spread around the world, causing a crisis in the beef industry. "Atypical BSE is distinct from classical BSE and is a spontaneously and sporadically occurring, non-contagious disease which is believed to occur at a very low level in all cattle populations," chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss said in a statement from the agency. The atypical variant sporadically occurs in older cattle, while the classic form is spread when farmers feed their herds with the meat and bone meal of infected animals. This is the fourth case of atypical mad cow disease in the United Kingdom since 2015. The previous occurrence of the disease occurred last December in Scotland. The classic form poses more danger to humans, while BSE is linked to the fatal human condition Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, if contaminated meat is eaten. "There is no food safety risk" following the latest incident, James Cooper, deputy director of food policy at Britain's Food Standards Agency, said Tuesday. "There are strict controls in place to protect consumers from the risk of BSE, including controls on animal feed, and removal of the parts of cattle most likely to carry BSE infectivity." The government said it had informed the World Organisation for Animal Health as well as trading partners regarding the case. "This does not affect the UK's ability to export beef to other countries," it added. Britain culled millions of cows during a BSE epidemic in the 1990s. Under the new deal with the EU, the UK will be able to sell British burgers and sausages in the neighboring bloc.
Time of India
21-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
American woman died of a mad-cow-like disease that lay dormant for 50 years: All you need to know
Image credits: Getty Images Sometimes life feels fine until the tragedy strikes and you realise that it was in the cards. An American woman recently died from an incurable prion disease that she had caught 50 years before. In a paper published on Wednesday in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, doctors revealed that the 58-year-old woman had developed a form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) that she likely contracted through contaminated human growth hormone (HGH) treatments she received as a child. While the globally fatal disease is popular, the death presented the longest latency period ever documented for it. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease Image credits: Getty Images Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a rare, fatal and rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by abnormal prion proteins. Prions are proteinaceous infectious particles, a rogue protein that triggers normal proteins to misfold and form a clump and disturb brain function. Over time, the accumulation of bad prions destroys the brain and leads to symptoms such as dementia and death. What's concerning is that they are resistant to most standard methods of sterilisation that are used to kill other infectious agents like bacteria and viruses. How are prions caused? Prions can emerge sporadically with no clear reason. They can be caused by inherited mutations or can be transmitted through close contact with infected bodily fluids or brain matter. In the 1980s, doctors discovered that one could catch CJD through human growth hormone extracted from prion-infected cadavers. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villas Prices In Dubai Might Be More Affordable Than You Think Villas In Dubai | Search Ads Get Rates Undo A decade later, it was learned that one could catch the disease via tainted beef from cows infected with their own version of the prion disease, which is nicknamed the mad cow disease. What are the symptoms of CJD? Image credits: Getty Images According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the main symptoms of CJD include cognitive troubles leading to dementia, involuntary muscle jerks, and lack of coordination of movements. While it can be diagnosed through a neurological exam, EEG, MRI and CSE tests, it has no cure as of now. What happened to the woman? According to the report, the woman initially visited doctors with tremors and trouble balancing. Once the symptoms of the disease started, her condition worsened, she was hospitalised, fell into a coma and died. An autopsy revealed her death's cause as CJD but ruled out genetic causes. Since she had received HGH treatment, it was considered to be the root cause of her illness by doctors. HGH is used to treat severe growth-related conditions in children and has been used for many years. In this case, the woman received her first treatment 51.3 years before her symptoms appeared. Since the US switched the collection of HGH from cadavers in 1977, thus reducing the risk of prion contamination, the timeframe of the woman's infection is around 48.3 years earlier. According to the authors, people who have a history of HGH treatment before 1977 must look out for similar delayed cases. 'Although the US CJD outbreak has slowed substantially, the potential for new cases remains,' they wrote. One step to a healthier you—join Times Health+ Yoga and feel the change
Business Mayor
21-05-2025
- Health
- Business Mayor
Mad cow disease confirmed on UK farm as animal shows symptoms of 1990s outbreak that led to culling millions of cattle
A CASE of 'mad cow disease' has been discovered on a farm in Essex, officials say. The cow showed symptoms of the deadly disease – formally known as Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) – that ravaged Britain's cattle herds in the 1990s and led to millions of cows being slaughtered. 3 A cow on a farm in Essex had to be culled after it showed symptoms of BSE Credit: Getty 3 During one memorable PR shoot for British beef in 1990, Agriculture Minister John Selwyn Gummer fed his young daughter a burger to insist they were safe An atypical case of BSE was confirmed when the cow was humanely culled and tested for disease, according to the Animal and Plant Health Agency. Experts say there is no risk to public health or food safety as the animal was not destined to enter the food chain. Chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss said: 'A single case of atypical BSE has been confirmed on a farm in Essex. 'The animal died on farm and was tested as part of our strict routine controls and surveillance regime. 'Atypical BSE is distinct from classical BSE and is a spontaneously and sporadically occurring, non-contagious disease which is believed to occur at a very low level in all cattle populations. 'This is proof that our surveillance system for detecting and containing this type of disease is working.' Unlike the atypical variant, scientists say that classical BSE is spread through contaminated feed. Over 184,000 cows in the UK died from BSE and over 4.4 million cattle were slaughtered to stop the disease from spreading. It also caused cases of the fatal variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans. Major searches carried out in Michael Gaine probe after human remains found Professor Neil Mabbott, Personal Chair in Immunopathology, explained: 'Very occasionally, rare atypical cases of BSE are sporadically detected in cattle, but these are considered non-contagious and are not linked to an infectious origin. 'Four cases of atypical BSE have been detected in the UK in the past ten years. 'This current case was detected through the routine surveillance and testing brain tissues from fallen stock animals.' Mabbott added that measures to prevent the spread of BSE in cattle and animals have so far proven effective as there have been no cases of the human variant vCJD since the 1990s. Dr James Cooper, deputy director of food policy at the Food Standards Agency, said: 'There is no food safety risk. 'There are strict controls in place to protect consumers from the risk of BSE, including controls on animal feed, and removal of the parts of cattle most likely to carry BSE infectivity. 'Consumers can be reassured that these important protection measures remain in place and that Food Standards Agency official veterinarians and meat hygiene inspectors working in all abattoirs in England will continue to ensure that the safety of consumers remains the top priority.' It comes as a case of 'mad cow disease' was reported at a farm in Somerset in September 2021. Prior to that, a case of BSE was reported at a farm in Aberdeenshire in October 2018 – the first case of the disease in three years in the UK and the first confirmed in Scotland since 2008. Previously, a dead cow with the disease was discovered in Wales in 2015. What happened during the BSE epidemic? BRITAIN was gripped by BSE in the early 1990s, when the disease infected more than 30,000 cows a year. It was first discovered in 1984 in Sussex. The first cow to be diagnosed, known as cow 133, had an arched back, had lost weight, suffered tremors and lost its coordination. It died within six weeks. Officials discovered that feeding cows 'cannibal' feed, which contained protein from other cows or sheep, was the cause of BSE. This practice was banned in 1989. However, by 1992 and 1993, thousands of cows were infected. In those two years alone, 72,370 cows in the UK were found to have 'mad cow disease'. In August 1996, a British coroner determined that Peter Hall, a 20-year-old vegetarian who died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, contracted the disease from eating beef burgers as a child. This verdict was the first to legally link a human death to 'mad cow disease'. During the crisis, beef exports from Britain were banned by the European Union. The ban was not lifted until 2006. Cows over 30 months old were required to be killed to stop the spread of the disease under the 'Over Thirty Months Scheme'. Over 4.4 million cattle were slaughtered as prevention.
Straits Times
20-05-2025
- Health
- Straits Times
UK identifies atypical case of ‘mad cow' disease
Britain culled millions of cows during a BSE epidemic in the 1990s. PHOTO: REUTERS LONDON - A case of atypical 'mad cow disease' has been found on a farm in eastern England, Britain's animal health agency said on May 20, but authorities said there was no food risk. A cow in the county of Essex showed clinical signs of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), as the neurologic disease is officially termed, and was culled on site, it said. The news came one day after Britain signed a post-Brexit agreement with the European Union, including a deal to reduce checks on food and plant products. BSE was first identified in Britain almost 40 years ago and has since spread around the world, causing a crisis in the beef industry. 'Atypical BSE is distinct from classical BSE and is a spontaneously and sporadically occurring, non-contagious disease which is believed to occur at a very low level in all cattle populations,' chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss said in a statement from the agency. The atypical variant sporadically occurs in older cattle, while the classic form is spread when farmers feed their herds with the meat and bone meal of infected animals. This is the fourth case of atypical mad cow disease in the UK since 2015. The previous occurrence of the disease occurred in December 2024 in Scotland. The classic form poses more danger to humans, while BSE is linked to the fatal human condition Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease if contaminated meat is eaten. 'There is no food safety risk' following the latest incident, James Cooper, deputy director of food policy at Britain's Food Standards Agency, said on May 20. 'There are strict controls in place to protect consumers from the risk of BSE, including controls on animal feed, and removal of the parts of cattle most likely to carry BSE infectivity.' The government said it had informed the World Organisation for Animal Health as well as trading partners regarding the case. 'This does not affect the UK's ability to export beef to other countries,' it added. Britain culled millions of cows during a BSE epidemic in the 1990s. Under the new deal with the EU, the UK will be able to sell British burgers and sausages in the neighbouring bloc. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
ITV News
20-05-2025
- Health
- ITV News
Case of atypical BSE found in cow on Essex farm as Animal and Plant Health Agency plays down risk
A single case of atypical BSE has been found in a cow on a farm, officials have said. The case of atypical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was uncovered on a farm in Essex after the animal showed some symptoms. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) said the cow was humanely culled but there was no risk to public health or food safety, and the animal was not destined to enter the food chain. Atypical BSE is a naturally occurring and non-contagious brain disease that occurs spontaneously, but rarely, in cattle. It is distinct from classical BSE, which was linked to contaminated animal feed, and was responsible for the UK's "mad cow disease" outbreak in the 1980s and 1990s that led to the culling of millions of cattle and caused fatal variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in people. Chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss said: "A single case of atypical BSE has been confirmed on a farm in Essex. "The animal died on the farm and was tested as part of our strict routine controls and surveillance regime. "Atypical BSE is distinct from classical BSE and is a spontaneously and sporadically occurring, non-contagious disease which is believed to occur at a very low level in all cattle populations. "This is proof that our surveillance system for detecting and containing this type of disease is working." Dr James Cooper, deputy director of food policy at the Food Standards Agency said: "There is no food safety risk. "There are strict controls in place to protect consumers from the risk of BSE, including controls on animal feed, and removal of the parts of cattle most likely to carry BSE infectivity. "Consumers can be reassured that these important protection measures remain in place."
