THE first case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in the Republic since the BSE/CJD crisis broke in Britain in mid March was confirmed yesterday the Department of Agriculture.
A Department spokesman said yesterday that since confirmation of the disease in a cow in Co Cork, 183 animals on the farm had been slaughtered. The case was verified on April 17th.
The slaughter and disposal of the whole herd in such cases is part of the ongoing Department programme to reassure consumers that no diseased animal can enter the food chain.
A total of 16,683 cattle from herds where the disease has been identified have been slaughtered and 125 cattle have been found to have BSE. In Britain 163,000, cases have been confirmed and there have been 1,650 in Northern Ireland.
Yesterday a Dail committee was told by a Department of Health expert that the systems put in place in Ireland to protect consumers from contaminated meat are the strictest in Europe.
The Irish Veterinary Association published a fact file on, BSE and CJD, recommending that Irish beef be branded and an effective means of tracing animal movements be put in place.
It called for the elimination of all sources of BSE by incineration and the exclusion of mechanically recovered meat from human food. It also called for a more active involvement by farmers in schemes where meat can be traced back to the producers.
The IVA said rigorous ante mortem tests on all cattle should be continued. Figures released yesterday by An Bord Bia, the food board, showed that while there is some recovery in beef consumption in Europe, it is very slow.
The UK market is 30 per cent below pre crisis consumption levels France 40 per cent Germany 50 per cent Holland 10 per cent Italy 30 per cent Spain 20 per cent and Scandinavia 10 per cent.
Meanwhile, in relation to Bovine TB, there was some easing of the union dispute which has been preventing the slaughter of diseased animals by the Department of Agriculture.