BSE Found in Wicklow Cow born after 1997

A county Wicklow cow was among 10 new cases of BSE found last week in cattle born after 1997, according to the Department of Agriculture. The new cases bring the total number of cows with BSE to 167 for the first five months of this year, bringing the total number of Irish BSE cases to over 1,000 since the disease was first found in ireland in 1989.

All of the 10 new cases were born after 1997 when a ban on feeding meat and bonemeal to cattle was introduced along with the segregation of cattle and pig ration milling in the Republic.

Five of the cases were found by the traditional means of passive identification on farms and the remaining animals were identified when tested at knackeries, where they had been taken as casualty or ill animals.

The Department of Agriculture said that the underlying trend in BSE cases was still positive and the increasing age profile of animals was evidence that the measures introduced in 1996 and 1997 were effective.