A CASE of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) disease has been identified in an aged cow in Britain, local news outlets have reported overnight.

The detection was made in a dead cow on a farm in Wales.

The animal had not entered the food chain and presented no risk to human health, the Food Standards Agency and Public Health Wales said.

Only one case of BSE was identified in cattle in the UK animals last year, following three cases in 2013.

The Welsh Government said BSE was found in a dead cow as a result of strict control measures, which require all animals over four years old that die on a farm to be routinely tested for the disease.

Welsh deputy minister for farming and food, Rebecca Evans, issued a statement saying identification of the case demonstrated that the controls that had been implemented by the Government were working well.

“Beef across the UK continues to be produced in compliance with the World Organisation for Animal Health rules,” she said.

Officials were working to investigate the circumstances of the case.

News of the detection was not likely to impact on beef consumption or livestock trade across the UK, industry representative body AHDB Beef & Lamb said.