'Mad cow disease': Irish cow in positive BSE test 'isolated case'

A case of "mad cow disease" identified in the Republic of Ireland was isolated to a single animal, the Irish government has said.

The animal was a five-year-old cow from a dairy farm in County Louth.

She was identified as being suspected of having BSE earlier this month.

The infected cow was not presented for slaughter and did not enter the food chain, but was identified through a surveillance system for animals who die on farms.

The Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine said other animals that could have been exposed to BSE had tested negative.

These 67 animals born and reared on the same farm were tested after being slaughtered and excluded from the food and feed chains.

In a statement, a DAFM spokesperson said: "The investigation has not identified anything to distinguish this case from the other cases of classical BSE that have been seen in Ireland or elsewhere.

"The identification of classical BSE cases after the implementation of the ban on the feeding of meat and bone meal is not unprecedented.

"A diminishing number of such cases have been identified in Ireland and in other countries over the years."