A case of classical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, has been confirmed in a cow on a farm in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.

The Scottish Government said on Wednesday that precautionary movement restrictions had been imposed on the animal’s offspring and other cattle in its cohort at the affected farm.

Authorities said the case was detected through Scotland’s routine BSE surveillance programme. The Animal and Plant Health Agency is investigating to determine the source of the infection.

The government said the infected cow did not enter the human food chain and that Food Standards Scotland had confirmed there was no risk to public health from the isolated case.

The affected animal’s offspring and cohort have been traced and isolated and will be destroyed in line with legal requirements, the government said.

BSE is a fatal neurological disease that affects cattle. Clinical signs can include nervousness, aggression, difficulty walking or standing, tremors, weight loss and reduced milk production.

Agriculture Minister Jim Fairlie said the swift detection of the case demonstrated the effectiveness of Scotland’s surveillance system.

“Following confirmation of a case of classical BSE in Dumfries and Galloway, the Scottish Government and other agencies acted swiftly and decisively to protect the agriculture sector,” Fairlie said.

He thanked the animal’s owner for reporting the case promptly, saying the action helped authorities identify and isolate the affected animal quickly.

The government said strict controls remain in place to protect consumers, including the removal of specified risk materials such as the brain, skull and spinal column from cattle intended for human consumption. Scotland routinely tests cattle over four years old that die on farms for BSE.

The UK experienced a major BSE outbreak in the 1980s and 1990s, which led to the slaughter of millions of cattle and was associated with more than 170 human deaths from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.