Mad cow disease has been discovered on a farm in the province of Drenthe in northern Netherlands, Radio Netherlands Worldwide reported Tuesday.

After an eight-year-old cow fell ill at the beginning of May and had difficulty walking, she was destroyed and an autopsy was conducted. The autopsy revealed that she was infected with the BSE (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy) virus.

Seven other cows were also destroyed as a precautionary measure. The infection is the 85th case of mad cow disease in the Netherlands since 1997 and the first this year, the report said.

BSE is a chronic, degenerative disorder affecting the central nervous system of cattle. It is believed that the disease may be transmitted to human beings who eat the brain or spinal cord of infected carcasses and cause the fatal Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease ( vCJD or nvCJD).

(Xinhua News Agency May 21, 2008)