A farm west of the Swedish capital Stockholm has been cordoned off over a suspected case of mad cow disease, dpa quoted agriculture authorities as saying Wednesday. Preliminary tests suggested that a 12-year-old cow tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), known as mad cow disease. Confirmation was pending final results from Britain, where samples of infected tissues have been sent for more detailed analysis. "This is the strongest suspected case of BSE we have had to date in Sweden," veterinary Robert ter Horst of the Swedish Board of Agriculture told local radio. Unlike neighboring Denmark and Finland, Sweden has not had any confirmed cases of BSE. The suspected case was detected at a farm near Vasteras, some 100 kilometers west of the capital. Sweden on Tuesday reported the first cases of wild dead birds that have tested positive for an "aggressive form" of bird flu virus.
