The agency said the case was found in County Louth, which borders Northern Ireland. The animal was not presented for slaughter and did not enter the food chain, DAFM said. A full investigation into the case is underway.
“If, as expected, the tests confirm this to be a classical case of BSE, this may impact Ireland’s recently awarded “negligible risk status” from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE),” the DAFM said in a statement. “In this case Ireland will revert to “controlled risk status” which applied up to last week and which facilitated trade to a wide range of international markets. It will also result in the continuation of the existing range of controls for a further number of years.”
The US ended its ban on beef produced in the European Union following a successful inspection by US authorities of Ireland’s beef production systems in July 2014.
