With tardy April ’s announcement that an aged California dairy farm cow tested electropositive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy — mad cow disease — farmers and consumers likewise did a double - take . It ’s been six years since a U.S. cow was found with BSE , so the disease has not been front - of - mind for food - prophylactic and agriculture advocate .
Unlike the strain of BSE found in the withering eruption in England in the nineties , this BSE case does n’t appear to have been due to provender containing the infectious factor .
“ She was positive on the clinical test , which detect abnormal protein , but the shape of the head alteration are not distinctive of BSE — at least the BSE contracted from polluted feed , ” explain John Maas , DVM , DACVIM , a University of California Cooperative , Davis , extension veterinary surgeon .
Exactly how this cow contracted the disease is unsung .
delirious moo-cow disease in cattle is due to prions , the smallest - known infective agents composed of protein . An animal can have mad cow disease for months or years before designate signs .
According to the Merck Veterinary Manual , behavioral symptom of mad cow disease are insidious and increase over a full point of several months . They may begin with something as simple as repeated nozzle defeat , sneezing or snorting , nose wrinkling , headland rubbing and tossing , and tooth labor . Animals can be easily jump or agitated , stand with a fixed gaze for farsighted point , and exhibit incoordination . Weight loss and diminish milk production are also common . There are a number of conditions that cause clinical signs standardised to these , and if you ’re concerned that an creature on your farm is exhibiting symptoms of sick cow disease , you should adjoin your veterinarian right aside .
As a small - scale farmer , there ’s not a lot you could do to protect your herd from BSE , and this one case — the 4th ever in the U.S.—is not a causal agency for care . Dr. Maas , who has his own herd of oxen , admitted to eating a steak just two Nox before talking withHobby Farmsand say he ’s more implicated with getting on the pike than he is with mad cow disease in his herd or the food chain .
While quarantine procedures for cattle new to your herd are life-sustaining to direction of other diseases , BSE can not be passed from animal - to - animal contact . world can contract variant Creutzfeldt - Jakob disease from eating bitch products pollute with BSE , but other farm animal can not be infect with BSE .
There is no inoculation or discussion for mad cow disease . Taking a sample distribution of mastermind matter is the only examination ; there is no way to test a live animal .
