February 27, 2004

Italy Reports New Case Of Mad Cow Disease

A cow from a breeding farm in northwest Italy has tested positive for mad cow disease, bringing to 118 the number of cases detected in Italy since testing began in 2001, the Italian Health Ministry said Thursday.
 
The disease in the 8-year-old cow was confirmed by testing done at a Turin zoological institute that serves as the national control center for the disease.
 
The European Union requires tests on cattle older than 30 months destined for slaughter.
 
Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, eats holes in the brains of cattle and is incurable.
 
Two years ago, the nation reported its first case of the human form of the brain-wasting illness, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, in a young woman in Sicily. Experts believe the human form of the illness is transmitted by eating meat from infected animals.