Seán Mac Connell,
Agriculture Correspondent
Nine new cases of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) were disclosed by the Department of Agriculture and Food yesterday.
A spokesman for the Department said the number compared favourably with the same week last year when 20 cases were found.
There was a dramatic decline in the number of animals detected with the disease last year when the number fell to 183 cases from the highest ever total of 333 recorded in 2002.
The youngest victim found in the last week was eight years old. There were four nine-year-olds, three 10-year-olds and one 15-year-old cow found to have been infected with the disease. The animals came from herds in Louth, Cavan, Monaghan, Westmeath and Limerick from both dairy and beef herds.
The Department said the underlying trend remained positive and the increasing age profile of animals confirmed with the disease indicated that enhanced controls, introduced in 1996 and early 1997, were proving effective.
This indicates the disease is now confined to a sub-set of older animals born before January 1998 when there may have been exposure to contaminated cattle feed.
The Department said since testing was introduced in 2000, approximately 2.02 million were carried out on casualty animals and on all cattle over 30 months old destined for human consumption.
The range of controls to protect consumers and to eradicate the disease continued to be rigorously enforced. In particular, specified risk material is removed from all cattle slaughtered, the Department said.