April 19, 2006

Japan's test for mad cow disease proves negative

A 20-month-old steer in Japan's Fukushima Prefecture initially suspected of having mad cow disease has tested negative, a health official said Tuesday (Apr 18).

The young Holstein was slaughtered for meat last week and initially tested positive for the disease.

Further tests at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo showed the steer did not have mad cow disease, according to prefectural health official Shinichi Nakajima.

The case had raised concerns because of the steer's young age. The youngest cow to have contracted the disease as of 2005 was a 20-month-old cow in the United Kingdom in 1992, according to the Food Safety Commission.