No BSE positives were found in casualty animals. One positive case in animals presented for slaughter. For detailed information about cases in 2000 click here. A BSE Surveillance Programme has been in operation since May, 2000. The total number of cattle in Ireland is 7,569,735 which are contained in 138,163 herds.
Beef production is grass based, with cattle grazing pasture for most of the year.
A total of 1.5m cattle are slaughtered each year, with nine out of every ten carcases destined for export.