The weekly BSE figures have soared again this week, with the Department of Agriculture reporting 13 new cases of the disease. They bring this year's total so far to 191. There were 149 cases recorded in the whole of 2000. A Department spokesman said the increase had been brought about by surveillance by the Department which was now seeking out cases of the disease.
"There is an active surveillance programme now in place, and we are looking at animals which would not have been tested before now because they were not going into the food chain," he said.
"We are examining fallen or diseased animals at knackeries, and they are turning up the new cases. When this was done in Switzerland, the number of cases increased by one-third in the first year," he said.
"If you look at the number of cases found by passive surveillance so far this year, that is, reported to us by farmers or vets, the numbers are the same as this time last year.
"The majority of cases found this week, for instance, were by active surveillance. Of the 13, eight were found in the new system," he said.
"What is even more important is that of the 13 cases, all were over five years old, indicating that the controls put in place in late 1996 to prevent cattle being fed contaminated meat and bonemeal destined for pigs and poultry have worked," he said.