The Scottish Government said a case of classical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy was found in a cow on a farm in Dumfries and Galloway. The Dumfries and Galloway mad cow case was described as isolated, and Food Standards Scotland said there is no risk to human health.
Jim Fairlie, the Agriculture Minister, said: "Following confirmation of a case of classical BSE in Dumfries and Galloway, the Scottish Government and other agencies acted swiftly and decisively to protect the agriculture sector." He added: "The fact we identified this isolated case so quickly is clear proof that our surveillance system for detecting this type of disease is working effectively."
Jim Fairlie and Scottish Government
Fairlie also said: "I want to thank the animal's owner for their diligence. Their swift action allowed us to identify and isolate the case immediately, minimising its impact on the wider industry." The case was found through routine though intensive BSE surveillance and stringent control measures, and all animals over four years of age that die on farm are routinely tested under Scotland's surveillance system.
Precautionary movement restrictions were put in place on the offspring of the animal and its cohort at the impacted premises. The infected cow's cohorts, including offspring, have been traced and isolated, and those animals will be destroyed in line with legal requirements.
Food Standards Scotland
The Scottish Government said the animal did not enter the human food chain. That leaves the public-health position separate from the livestock response: there is no risk to human health, but the traced cohorts still face destruction while further investigations continue to identify the origin of the disease.
The case came two days after the first-ever incident of bluetongue serotype 3 was found in a cow in Scotland. Cases of bluetongue serotype 3 were later confirmed in a lamb and three sheep on farms in the Creetown area, a reminder that Scotland's livestock surveillance system is now handling more than one disease investigation at the same time.
The practical consequence for the affected premises is direct. The farm's traced offspring and cohort are no longer part of ordinary livestock movement while investigators work out where the disease came from, and the case now rests on tracing, isolation and destruction rather than on any risk to people.
