Mad cow disease found after controls introduced

London-The British have confirmed a case of bovine spongiformencephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, in an animal born after controls wereintroduced to eradicate the illness, the Associated Press reports.

The cow was born May 27, 1997, almost 10 months after mammal meat andbone products were banned from animal feed, the Department for the Environment,Food and Rural Affairs says.

It is the second such case to be confirmed, officials say.

Scientists believe that ground up sheep tissue in animal feed was theagent for spreading BSE.

The development of the disease in an animal born after the feed ban suggeststhat the ailment may have been transmitted from its mother.

Another possible source is feed carried over from before Aug. 1, 1996.

The disease eats holes in the brains of victims, and is incurable. Diseasedbeef is suspected to be the cause of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease,a wasting brain disease that has killed more than 100 people in Britain.

Officials said the infected cow was 48 months old when it was slaughtered,and there was no danger it could have entered the food chain. Meat fromcows that are more than 30 months old may not be sold for human consumption.

Animal Health Minister Elliot Morley says the case had no implicationsfor food safety.

"It does not change in any way our view that we have the toughestrules in place to protect public health and to eradicate the disease,"he says.

Experts have predicted there could be a small number of BSE cases incows born after the measures were introduced. The first such case was confirmedlast year in a Holstein cow from Dorset in southern England.

The State Veterinary Service is investigating the source of the latestinfection, the ministry says.

The number of BSE cases in Britain continues to decline, with 1,311 confirmedduring 2000, 42 percent fewer than in 1999.