The USDA has confirmed that a case of mad cow disease was found in a California dairy cow. The first outbreak of mad cow in the United States occurred in late 2003. This would be the fourth case of mad cow, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) since 2003.
USDA Chief Veterinary Officer John Clifford said Tuesday afternoon that the cow did not enter the human food chain and that all U.S. meat and dairy supplies are safe. Further mitigating the risk to the public, milk does not transmit BSE.
According to the USDA, the animal’s carcass is being held under state authority at a California rendering facility and will be destroyed. Clifford confirmed in a statement that the “It was never presented for slaughter for human consumption, so at no time presented a risk to the food supply or human health.”
The USDA said that they have begun notifying authorities at the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) as well as U.S. trading partners. The USDA does not expect the detection of mad cow to affect U.S. beef exports.
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