Mad cow disease in U.K.

Confirmed on farm in Scotland

Mad cow disease has been found on a U.K. farm for the first time since 2015, raising concern that some countries may move to limit imports of British beef if more cases are found.

The disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE, was confirmed on a farm in Aberdeenshire,

eastern Scotland, according to a government statement. Officials stressed that the case is classical BSE and the animal did not enter the food supply.

“The Scottish red meat industry has a global reputation for the quality of its produce,”

the government said in a statement. “We do not anticipate this having an effect on our present exports. We will continue to work closely with countries such as China on exports of our highly acclaimed beef.”

If BSE is confirmed in more animals, there’s a chance that importers would cut off purchases of British beef because of fears linked to the disease. In the 1980s and 1990s, Britain suffered an epidemic of mad cow disease that killed

several people and led to widespread export bans on beef.

Eating meat from animals infected with BSE has been tied to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, an incurable human illness that destroys brain tissue. More than 185,000 BSE cases in cattle were confirmed in the European Union during

the previous epidemic. Since then, cases have been sporadic and isolated.

Britain has worked to sell beef as a premium product to other countries and assure consumers of its safety. In recent months, the industry has been courting China as a new market.