Mad cow disease has been found in an 11-year-old beef cow in Alabama that officials are calling "atypical" and did not pose a risk to food supply.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday that the case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy was discovered during routine surveillance at a livestock market, according to Bloomberg News.
"USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's National Veterinary Services Laboratories have determined that this cow was positive for atypical (L-type) BSE," said a USDA statement.
"The animal was showing clinical signs and was found through routine surveillance at an Alabama livestock market. APHIS and Alabama veterinary officials are gathering more information on the case."
The USDA said atypical BSE generally occurs in older cattle, usually eight years of age or greater. Atypical BSE seems to arise rarely and spontaneously in all cattle populations, noted the USDA.
"Unlike previous cases of classical BSE, this case is not the result of ruminant by-products being fed to ruminants," said an Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries statement. "The United States banned the use of such protein supplements in cattle in 1997.”
"… Another important component of the system – which led to this detection – is the ongoing BSE surveillance program that allows USDA to detect the disease in the U.S. cattle population."
John McMillan, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries, said the detection proved the effectiveness of the surveillance program.
"The Alabama beef industry is vital to our state’s agriculture economy," said McMillan. "The response to this case by USDA officials and our department's professionals led by state veterinarian Dr. Tony Frazier has been exemplary."
The USDA reported that this was the fifth time BSE was detected in the United States this year. The first was diagnosed as classical BSE that was imported from Canada, while the other cases were identified as atypical (H- or L-type) BSE.