The entire herd of 183 cattle on a Co Cork farm has been put down, according to the Department of Agriculture. A BSE outbreak on the farm last month affected one animal, it is understood, but in keeping with departmental regulations, all the animals on the farm were slaughtered.
The slaughtered animals will not go back into the food chain. It is expected that the carcases will be incinerated.
The outbreak is the second in Co Cork since Christmas.