Twenty-Five Years Since the First Mad Cow Disease Case in Czechia

Twenty-five years ago, the first case of mad cow disease was confirmed in the Czech Republic. The initial outbreak occurred at an agricultural cooperative in Dušejov, leading to the culling of nearly 140 cattle. This event caused a significant drop in beef consumption and effectively halted the country's meat exports. In response, the government implemented mandatory testing for livestock. Since then, only 30 animals have tested positive out of more than two million tests conducted. The last case of BSE, which can cause the fatal Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, was detected by Czech veterinarians 17 years ago.