Enfer Scientific, the Irish biotechnology company, has won the British government contract to supply its BSE test for British herds. The test will be used for the BSE surveillance programme covering 200,000 cattle annually.

The Enfer test, the first large-scale screening test for BSE, was developed in Ireland at Enfer's facility at Newbridge, Co Kildare. Some 130 people are employed in what has become the world's largest BSE testing centre. The company is also undertaking BSE testing in Northern Ireland, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Spain.