December 18, 2001 Agence France Presse by Christine Boggis

The agency said it had slight suspicions that the four-year-old cow, from a farm located in Jaemtland county, may have been infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease. Preliminary tests conducted on Tuesday proved negative. Definitive results were expected within two weeks, the agency said in a statement.

The Board of Agriculture said the cow had been slaughtered, and the farm in question had been barred from the slaughter and sale of any animals pending the definitive test results.

Following recent discoveries of mad cow disease in Austria and Finland, Sweden is now the only country in the European Union to remain free of BSE. Several previous suspected cases have all proved unfounded.