Do you have mad cows? Bucks for brains subsidy available!

Australia is currently free of TSE (Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies, or ‘mad cow disease’). The National TSE surveillance program helps Australia demonstrate our freedom from Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and scrapie, to meet guidelines set by the World Organisation for Animal Health which includes collecting and examining eligible cattle and sheep brain and spinal cord samples each year.

Cattle aged 30 months to nine years with any of these signs may be eligible for the subsidy:

• changes in behaviour and neurological signs
• excessive licking of the nose and flanks
• poor coordination (circling, staggering and falling)
• muscle tremors
• abnormal posture (abnormal ear position and/or head carriage)
• difficulty in rising (downer)
• paralysis
• excitability
• increased or decreased sensitivity to sound, pain, heat, cold or touch.

If you have cattle with these signs, contact the Department of Primary Industry and Resources Livestock Biosecurity Branch. You may be eligible to receive $300 for each animal submitted. This incentive payment is for a maximum of two animals per disease investigation.

More information

Contact your regional Livestock Biosecurity Branch or visit Animal Health Australia’s Bucks for brains.