Area livestock producers and grocers are not too concerned about the possibility of mad cow disease affecting their cattle, despite the recent discovery of the disease in America.

A cow in Washington state was discovered with the disease – the first reported case of mad cow disease in the United States.

“Obviously, everyone in the industry is deeply concerned,” local cattle producer Jamie Willrett said. His farm, called J. Willrett Farm, is located southwest of Malta. The cow was found in Washington but was born in Canada, he said.

Mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is found in the brain and spinal cord and destroys nerve cells causing neurological problems, Willrett said. Cows with the disease display abnormal behavior, which is caused by the damaged cells.

Mad cow disease can be passed to ruminant, or four-stomached, animals if the animal eats processed meat and bone meal from an infected cow. Mad cow disease is only found in animals that are 30 months or older.

Cows that are higher in risk for potentially having the disease are put under closer scrutiny. Animals under the age of 30 months are tested some of the time, while animals over the age of 30 months are tested more thoroughly. Animals showing signs of neurological problems always are tested and kept completely out of the process, Willrett said.

The form of the disease found in human beings, known as new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, was documented first in the United Kingdom in 1996. By January 2004, there were 155 definite and probable cases discovered. No case of the variant has been reported in America.

Variant CJD can be contracted only by eating the processed brain and spinal cord of an infected cow, Willrett said. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease has been around since the 1920s and affects about one person per million each year.

John Sherman, manager at Inboden’s Meat Market, 1106 N. First St., said mad cow disease is blown out of proportion

“You have a better chance of getting struck by lightning,” he said.

More than a thousand people die each year from salmonella – and people pay less attention to that, Willrett said.

Even though there is concern for the disease, Willrett and Sherman both are confident in the food supply.

“I think the U.S. has the cheapest food and the best quality food in the world,” Sherman said.

The United States “continues to produce the safest food in the world,” Willrett said.