Record number of BSE cases likely this year
Four new cases recorded this week in Mayo, Galway, Limerick and Clare brought the total for the year so far to 246 - the same as was recorded for all of last year, which was also a record.
The upsurge in the number of cases this year is being attributed to increased surveillance by the Department of Agriculture and had been predicted by veterinary experts.
However, the outbreak in Limerick this week was in a five-year-old dairy cow, which meant that it contracted the virus after a ban was introduced on feeding meat and bonemeal to cattle in 1996 and early 1997.
It was the third such case recorded in animals born in 1997. The other two were in Sligo and Kerry.
One theory being considered is that meat and bonemeal left over from the period when it was banned may have ended up inadvertently in animal feed after the new controls were introduced.
Hazel Sheridan, senior veterinary inspector with the department, said they expected to see some more cases in animals born in 1997 before the year is out.
There had been a trend throughout the whole of this year for increases in the number of overall cases detected.
This was in direct response to the active surveillance programme which was introduced in full in July 2001, she said.
In the other outbreaks this week, the cattle were aged 16, seven and nine years. All were from suckler herds.
A spokesman for the department said the underlying trend remains positive. The increasing age profile of animals confirmed with the disease indicates that the enhanced controls introduced in 1996 and early 1997 are proving effective.
The range of controls in place to protect consumers and to eradicate the disease continues to be rigorously enforced, he said.
Experts believe the incidences of the disease will start to decline shortly as older animals work their way out of the national herd.
Meanwhile, British scientists have published the first official estimate of the number of people there who might develop vCJD, the human form of BSE.
Medical researchers at Derriford hospital in Plymouth estimate 120 people per million could be at an increased risk to the human form of BSE but have not yet developed symptoms.
However, they have warned the margin of error could be high.
