Case of mad cow disease discovered in Netherlands

A case of mad cow disease has been discovered on a farm in the Netherlands, agriculture minister Piet Adema said on Wednesday.

The infection was found in a dead cow on Jan. 30, Adema said in a letter to parliament, without specifying at which farm the cow was found.

The infection is being studied by experts to determine whether it is a so-called atypical or a classic type of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

The atypical variant can occur as an effect of old age, while the classic type of infection is usually caused by contaminated animal feed.

Widespread cases of mad cow disease hit cattle herds in Britain and other European countries in the 1990s. Atypical cases have occasionally been detected in recent years and can lead to temporary trade restrictions.

(Reuters)