A case of BSE known as mad cowhas been identified on a farm in Ayrshire, Scotland.
The Scottish Government said safety restrictions were in place at the farm and three other sites.
The animal did not enter the human food chain.
Food Standards Scotland said there was no risk to human health, the BBC reported.
The Scottish Government said BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) was identified through routine surveillance and control measures.
Further research is pending to establish the origin of the disease.
Agriculture Minister Jim Fairlie said: “The fact that we identified this isolated case so quickly is proof that our surveillance system for detecting this type of disease is working effectively.
“I want to thank the owner of the animal for his diligence.
There are two types of “mad cow”. Classic and atypical. The classic can be transferred to people who eat the meat. Scientists believe that atypicals arise spontaneously and are not transmitted to people.
This is the fifth case of classic BSE found in the UK in the last 10 years.
BSE monitoring has been important in the UK since the 1986 crisis, when 180,000 cattle were infected and 4.4 million slaughtered to eradicate the disease.
All cows over four years of age that die on a farm are routinely tested for BSE.
The disease is not directly transmitted from animal to animal, but the offspring of the infected animal can be affected and destroyed.
The last case in Scotland was in Aberdeenshire in 2018. There was a case in England in 2021.
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