- Mad cow disease has been detected in two English cows
born years after protective safeguards were put in place, authorities announced
Tuesday.
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- The cases raise questions about whether the safeguards,
which banned the inclusion of infectious animal parts in cattle feed, were
strictly followed. The U.S. government has relied on similar safeguards
to protect U.S. herds and consumers.
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- In addition to posing a threat to herds, mad cow disease
is also a concern to humans because people can contract a fatal brain disease
called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease from consuming infected beef products.
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- One of the infected cows was born in Devon in December
1999, 40 months after the feed ban was put in place in 1996 to prevent
the spread of the deadly disease, the Department for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs said. The other case was born in Shropshire in February
1998, 19 months after the ban took effect.
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- The infected cows were slaughtered in June and July,
but it was not confirmed they were infected until Monday.
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