* 10-year-old cow tests positive at slaughterhouse
* First BSE positive in the country since May 2008
* Govt says no extra measures required
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By Ben Berkowitz
AMSTERDAM, Sept 3 (Reuters) - A 10-year-old cow in the Netherlands has tested positive for BSE, more commonly known as "mad cow" disease, the first such result in more than two years, the Dutch government said on Friday.
The government ministry responsible for food quality said the animal tested positive for the brain-wasting disease bovine spongiform encephalopathy at a slaughterhouse.
It was the first positive test for BSE in the country since May 2008, the ministry said in a statement.
"This fits the expectation of the Central Veterinary Institute ... that the Netherlands in the coming years will encounter an infected cow now and again," the ministry said.
A spokesman for the ministry told Reuters the cow's meat was withdrawn from the food chain after a first positive test, while a second test confirmed the result.
All cows sent to slaughter in the country are tested and held aside for the results before their meat enters the system. More than 400,000 cows were tested last year without incident.
Because of those rules, the spokesman said, no extra precautions will be required in general or on the diseased cow's herd or farm in particular.
Cattle have been tested for BSE in the Netherlands since 2001, while since 1997 the most infectious organs, the brains and spinal marrow have been collected and destroyed to prevent infection.
Mad cow disease is of particular concern because it has been known to cause a related brain-wasting disease in humans who have eaten contaminated meat.
Three people have died in the Netherlands from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease after eating meat from a BSE positive cow. The last reported death was in January 2009. Deaths were also reported in 2005 and 2006. (Additional reporting by Aaron Gray-Block; editing by James Jukwey)