The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has confirmed that a six-year-old cow born into a herd in central Scotland has contracted BSE. The cow's herd was accepted into the Beef Assurance Scheme (BAS) in January 1997, a scheme that implements stringent safeguards that are meant to ensure that the cattle have less risk of contracting mad cow disease than other herds. The scheme also allows meat from cattle up to 42 months to be sold for human consumption, rather than the 30 months threshold for all other cattle.