--- title: Mad Cow Disease: France Confirms Case description: A case of mad cow disease has been discovered in northeastern France canonical: https://time.com/4270625/mad-cow-disease-france/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-24T15:01:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T16:11:32.121Z article:section: Health og:title: Mad Cow Disease: France Confirms Case og:description: A case of mad cow disease has been discovered in northeastern France og:url: https://time.com/4270625/mad-cow-disease-france/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt56175b8b096f8fa4/69888c5f0a4a2240189c8f8c/mad-cow-disease-france.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: mad cow disease france canada og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mad Cow Disease: France Confirms Case twitter:description: A case of mad cow disease has been discovered in northeastern France twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt56175b8b096f8fa4/69888c5f0a4a2240189c8f8c/mad-cow-disease-france.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Case of Mad Cow Disease Found in France  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 24, 2016 3:01 PM UTC  A cow is silhouetted on a pasture near the Trans-Canada Highway north of Calgary on Feb. 13, 2015. A cow is silhouetted on a pasture near the Trans-Canada Highway north of Calgary on Feb. 13, 2015.Joe Klamar—AFP/Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 24, 2016 3:01 PM UTC A case of [mad cow disease](http://time.com/3708925/canada-mad-cow-disease/) has been discovered in northeastern France, the country’s agriculture ministry said Thursday. The news, [reported](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-madcow-idUSKCN0WQ15S) by Reuters, could lead regulators to lower the country’s safety grade, making it more difficult to export beef. However, the French farm ministry maintained that the nation’s beef is safe to eat, saying that all parts of cow which could be infected with mad cow disease are required to be removed in slaughter houses. “The detection of this case does not affect the consumer,” the ministry said. The prevalence of mad cow disease has declined in recent years thanks to safeguards instituted following an outbreak in the 1990s. Consuming meat from animals infected with the disease can lead to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease—a degenerative brain disorder that leads to death. \[[Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-madcow-idUSKCN0WQ15S)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4270625/mad-cow-disease-france/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4270625/mad-cow-disease-france/"},"headline":"Case of Mad Cow Disease Found in France","datePublished":"2016-03-24T15:01:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:11:32.121Z","description":"The news could lead regulators to lower the country's food safety rating","url":"https://time.com/4270625/mad-cow-disease-france/","keywords":["Disease"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt56175b8b096f8fa4/69888c5f0a4a2240189c8f8c/mad-cow-disease-france.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt56175b8b096f8fa4/69888c5f0a4a2240189c8f8c/mad-cow-disease-france.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"mad cow disease france canada","caption":"mad cow disease france canada","creditText":"Joe Klamar—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/disease/","name":"Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4270625/mad-cow-disease-france/","name":"Case of Mad Cow Disease Found in France"}}]}] ```