Sweden's First Case of Mad Cow Confirmed

[tocqueville]

Fri Mar 3, 8:00 AM ET

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Sweden's first case of mad cow disease has been confirmed by the European Union's central laboratory, the EU executive said Friday.

Sweden reported the case last week after tests showed symptoms of the illness in a domestic cow. The tests from a 12-year-old cow in central Sweden were sent to the central EU lab in Weybridge, England, which confirmed the disease, the European Commission said.

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The Swedish Board of Agriculture said the 12-year-old cow had lived its entire life on the same farm, and that officials are investigating what cow feed it had been given. It said the cow is likely to have been given contaminated feed more than 10 years ago, before Sweden introduced security measures to stop the disease, but that the symptoms did not show up until now.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060303/ap_on_re_eu/sweden_mad_cow;_ylt=AuxuaX.qIqwZAde_UT_VEBZWbBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--
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which shows that recent regulations don't stop the transmission of the disease. Cows that have bben fed with animal protein can develop the disease many many years later... put things into perspective...