Three new cases of mad cow disease have been found in France, bringing the total found this year to 42, the agriculture ministry announced today.
The three animals were all born in 1995 and were found in three different regions of France, the ministry said. Cattle aged over 30 months are routinely tested for the disease, which has been linked to a fatal brain condition in humans.
Meat potentially infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy was found in French supermarkets in November.
In January the government began slaughtering cattle and more than 123,000 animals have so far been taken off the market.
Since the illness was first detected in British livestock, a huge slaughter programme affecting mainly sheep has been launched to contain foot-and-mouth disease .
AFP