WESTBROOK – Idexx Laboratories Inc. has won government approval for a new test that cuts the time needed to test cattle for mad cow disease, the company announced Thursday.

The test delivers results in four to five hours on cows that are suspected of having bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, officials said.

The Department of Agriculture plans to use rapid testing as part of its stepped-up testing program announced earlier this week. It takes about four days to get results from the tests that are now on the market.

The department announced this week it will expand its testing for mad cow disease in the next 12 to 18 months to more than 221,000 animals, 10 times the number tested last year. The first U.S. case of mad cow disease was detected in a single cow in Washington state in December.

The Idexx test should allow the government to test many more animals, said Marilee Raines, chief financial officer.

“The current testing is just not geared … toward doing a large volume of tests,” Raines said. “It would just take way too long.”

Bio-Rad Laboratories, based in Hercules, Calif., also announced Thursday that the government had licensed its mad cow test. The company said its test gives fast results and can be analyzed at many locations.

The USDA said previously that it would expedite licensing of the tests. USDA spokesman Jim Rogers said only Idexx and Bio-Rad have had their applications approved, but other applications are pending.

Idexx submitted a licensing application for its test, called Herdchek BSE Antigen Test Kit, in February. Mad cow is a health concern because people can get a similar brain-wasting illness, variant Creutzfeldt Jakob’s disease, by eating meat that is contaminated with infected tissue.

Nearly 50 countries imposed bans on American beef after the first U.S. case was confirmed, cutting beef exports by as much as 90 percent.

The USDA has earmarked $70 million for its enhanced testing program. The Idexx test will cost about $10 to $20 each, Raines said.

Raines said the USDA hasn’t indicated whether it will use one test or several for its detection program.

“For us, it will certainly depend on what testing program they roll out,” Raines said. “They have been really scrambling to figure out how the testing program needs to change and how many tests they will use and what other rapid tests they will use.”

Ken Andries, a livestock specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, said fast testing is critical to beef producers because they try to move meat to market within 48 hours of slaughter. He said waiting four days for test results would force producers to increase storage space.

“In a commercial facility, they don’t have the cooler space,” he said. “We’re talking commercial plants that kill 500 to 800 head of cattle a day.”

Idexx submitted its test kit to the European Union for approval last year and expects it could get approval there later this year or in early 2005.

Idexx produces test kits and other products for the veterinary market. It employs more than 2,400 people, including 920 in Maine, and sells its products in more than 100 countries.