First suspected BSE case in Italian cow found
The Italian health ministry has reported the country's first suspected case of mad cow disease in a native cow.
The milk cow was found on a breeding farm near Brescia, in the northern region of Lombardy and has now been destroyed.
A few years ago in Sicily, two cows imported from Britain were found to have the brain-wasting disease but no case in a native Italian cow had been reported before the announcement.
The health ministry said two tests indicated the cow could have the disease. The results of a third test, which should give the definitive word, are expected for late on Tuesday.
Late last year, farmers mobilised on the border with France to make sure no beef from that country made it into Italy to try to keep the disease from reaching this country.
Italy imported 40% of its beef from France until November, when Rome banned most beef imports following an increase in detection of the mad cow disease in France.
On Friday, Italy lifted the ban on cattle imports, except for T-bone steak, from France. Rome said it deemed its own tests sufficient to protect consumers.
