May 13, 2005

Japan confirms its 18th case of mad cow disease

The 18th case of mad cow disease in Japan has been confirmed. The cow was a 5-year-old Holstein cow in Sunagawa, Hokkaido, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare said on Thursday.

Officials said the cow was born in August 1999 - before the feeding of cows with meat-and-bone meal was banned in 2001, due to fears of the disease called bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE,

The meat and internal organs of the cow will not be distributed to the market as it is to be incinerated, they said.

The cow has tested positive in two screenings held by the Hokkaido Hayakita Meat Inspection Centre, and by Hokkaido University and Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine.

Members of the ministry's expert panel on mad cow disease judged the cow to be infected without holding a meeting, as data sent by the two universities indicated a typical BSE case.