Slovenian veterinary authorities have enforced safety measures following the confirmation of a new case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease in a cow from the former Yugoslav country, a senior official said on Sunday.

Vida Cadonic Spelic, general director of the Slovenian Veterinary Administration, said the farm where the cow was born has been closed, while veterinary experts are now establishing the cow's family ties, the official Slovene Press Agency reported from the capital Ljubljana.

Once these are established, the cow's relatives will be executed, Cadonic said, adding that there has been no safety threat to consumers.

The cow from Slovenia which was slaughtered in Austria's Graz in late October was confirmed to have the BSE infection by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety. This is the 7th confirmed BSE case in Slovenia.

Cadonic said the Austrian veterinary authorities e-mailed her about the finding Saturday evening immediately after they had the results and the official lab test results are not expected until Monday.

The farm at which the contaminated cow was born was located in Dravsko polje, near Slovenia's second largest city of Maribor.

Source: Xinhua