A case of "mad cow" disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), has been detected near Cuneo, Italian health officials said Tuesday.
A positive field test was confirmed in Italy's main testing labin Turin, raising Italy's mad cow tally to 87.
Italy has so far carried out over 1 million tests for the brain-wasting disease since it launched a BSE testing program in January2001, in compliance with European Union regulations.
All animals over 24 months old now undergo such testing prior to slaughter.
A government task force was set up and BSE measures stepped up last February after the discovery of the first suspected case of the human form of the brain-wasting disease, variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (vCJD), in a young Sicilian woman.