New German mad cow case confirmed in Bavaria

BERLIN (Reuters) – A new case of the deadly mad cow disease
has been discovered in Bavaria, the German state’s Ministry of
Environment, Health and Consumer Protection said on Tuesday.

This was the 139th case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(BSE) confirmed in a cow in Bavaria, the second most populous
state in Germany and the largest in terms of land mass, the
ministry said in a statement.

The cow was nearly five years old, the ministry said.

This was the sixth Bavarian BSE case confirmed this year.
In 2004 and 2003 there were 21 confirmed BSE cases per year, 27
in 2002, 59 in 2001 and five in 2000.

Bavaria has the most BSE cases of any German state and has
consistently accounted for around a third of all BSE cases in
the country. By mid August 2005, there were 379 confirmed BSE
cases in Germany, 136 of which were in Bavaria.

Since then there have been three more BSE cases confirmed
in Bavaria, including the one announced on Tuesday.