Only two cases of BSE were found in Irish herds during April, the lowest monthly figure since June 1996, the Department of Agriculture reported yesterday.
The first was a six-year-old cow in a Cavan dairy herd, while the other was a five-year-old cow in a dairy herd in Cork.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, welcomed the drop and said the figures were moving in the right direction.
The two new cases, the 24th and 25th clinical cases in 1998, bring the number since the disease was diagnosed here in 1989 to 296.
So far this year there have been 25 cases, but two cohort animals in herds which had an infected animal in the previous year were reported as well.
A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture said that while it was too early to be confident that the disease was fully eradicated, the signs were very encouraging.
He added that beef sales to export markets, especially to the UK and the rest of Europe remained good, while the Russian and Egyptian markets were continuing to buy good quantities of Irish beef.
"The average price of a steer [bullock] now is 90.5p per lb, and that is 12.5 per cent higher than for the same period in 1997," the spokesman added.
Meanwhile, gardai and Department of Agriculture officials are investigating the theft of 15 animals from an official compound in Ballina, Co Mayo.
The bullocks, which carried no identification tags, were found earlier this month in a wood near Elphin, Co Roscommon, and impounded by the authorities.