A NEW survey for BSE amongst fallen stock is underway.

Testing will be done on the brains of at least 6,500 cattle over the age of 30 months which die on farm or in transit, or which are killed on farm but not eligible for the Over Thirty Months Scheme. This is part of an EU-wide scheme introduced following reports of an increase in the number of cases of BSE in other European countries.

The round of testing commenced on January 15.

There have been two previous rounds of testing on the brains of cattle over five years. In the first, carried out January-March last year, 3,951 brains were tested and 18 were positive. The second round began in May, to test about 10,000 brains, but those results are not yet completed.

Updated: 10:28 Thursday, January 25, 2001