The Chief Veterinary Officer issued a statement on the matter:
The Chief Veterinary Officer reports the confirmation of BSE (atypical form – L type) in a cow kept on a farm located in Mirsk, Lwówek County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship.
The disease was confirmed in a cow born in 2007 that was euthanized because of injuries to its hind limbs. The carcass of the cow was disposed of. A sample for BSE testing was collected as part of routine monitoring carried out in accordance with the Regulation of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of 8 December 2017 on the introduction of a programme for combating bovine spongiform encephalopathy for 2018–2020. The first BSE test was conducted at the ZHW in Poznań – Laboratory in Leszno (a positive test result was obtained on 24 January of this year). A confirmatory test was subsequently carried out at the National Veterinary Research Institute – National Research Institute in Puławy (the confirmatory test result was obtained on 30 January of this year).
In connection with the occurrence of the disease, measures specified in Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies were implemented.
Furthermore, the Chief Veterinary Officer informed the European Commission and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) about the occurrence of atypical BSE in Poland.
At the same time, it should be noted that, in accordance with Article 11.4.1 of the Terrestrial Animal Health Code of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the occurrence of atypical BSE does not affect the country's epizootic status with regard to this disease, as it is considered to “occur spontaneously in all cattle populations at a very low level”.
The atypical form of BSE is completely harmless to humans, reports the spidersweb.pl service:
(...) it is detected in older cows from time to time. Poland is not an isolated case, either. This form of BSE was recently detected, among others, in Canada, Germany, Ireland and Brazil. Despite the lack of any danger, it was the duty of the Chief Veterinary Officer to inform the European Commission and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). This information is needed solely for statistical purposes. The detection of a single case of atypical BSE does not affect the change in Poland's BSE risk status.