This is a subscriber-only article
The agriculture ministry in France has confirmed a case of BSE has been found in the northeastern region of Ardennes.
Initial tests were carried out last week when the five-year-old Salers cow's carcase was brought to a knackery yard in the Ardennes district near the Belgian border.
The rest of the herd has been placed under veterinary surveillance.
According to the French agriculture ministry, this is the third isolated case of BSE in young animals in Europe since last year. One of these occured on a Co Louth farm last June, also in a five-year-old cow. The third similar case was found on a cow in Wales in October.
Another case was found in Solvenia last September, but the infected cow was 12 years old. Isolated cases in animals born long after strict disease control measures came into force across Europe are harder to explain.
French agriculture minister Stéphane Le Foll said in a statement that he would ask the European Commission and the European Food Safety Agency to investigate the "origin and cause of such isolated cases in young bovines".
He added that "beef consumption poses no risk to humans".
SHARING OPTIONS: