A total of 284 cases of BSE have been confirmed to date in 2002, including two cases from depopulated herds. Details of the counties and the numbers by month, excluding cohorts, will be circulated in the Official Report. While it is not possible accurately predict the numbers of cases for the remainder of the year, it is expected that they will be lower than last years numbers for the same period.
In recent years there has been a significant shift in the age profile of BSE cases which indicates clearly the effectiveness of our controls. In this regard, 99% of cases diagnosed to date in 2002 were at least six years old at the time of diagnosis compared with 84% in 2001 and 60% in 2000. In terms of case numbers, 281 of the 284 cases diagnosed to date in 2002, were born in 1996 or earlier. No cases have been diagnosed in animals born in 1998, the year from which the scientific steering committee judged Ireland's control system to be optimally stable.