The Department of Agriculture is to investigate a report of the discovery of bovine spinal cord in a cargo of beef imported to Northern Ireland from the Republic. The tissue has been banned by the European Union to reduce the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE.
Northern Agriculture Department inspectors in Larne, Co Antrim, found the tissue in beef that had arrived from the Republic. Irish authorities immediately ordered an investigation. This is the second such case in recent months.
The EU in January banned the sale of spinal cord, which must be removed from all cattle at slaughterhouses. A cow's nervous system is believed to be the breeding ground for the prion that causes bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
Meanwhile, in the US a second flock of sheep imported from Europe, feared to be infected with either BSE or scrapie, was confiscated early yesterday from a farm in Vermont.
A spokesman for the US Department of Agriculture, Mr Jim Rogers, said a flock of approximately 126 quarantined sheep of Belgian and Dutch provenance was taken from a farm owned by Larry and Linda Faillace.