September 14, 2004

 

 

Japan Confirms 12th Mad Cow Disease Case
 

Japan had confirmed a 12th case of mad cow disease, an official stated. This is the third case of the brain-wasting illness in the country this year.

 

The five-year-old dairy cow tested positive for the disease formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, on Friday at a slaughterhouse in Shisui town in southern Kumamoto prefecture (state), according to prefectural spokesman official Toshinori Takano.

 

More precise tests at a state-run infectious disease research institute confirmed the finding, Takano said.

 

The animal's meat and organs had not gone on the market, and its carcass would be incinerated, he said.

 

Japan's first case of mad cow disease - in September 2001 - was the first case outside of Europe, where it had devastated cattle farms.

 

Within months of that case, the government banned the use of meat-and-bone meal - made from ruminant animal parts - in cattle feed, which authorities believe led to the outbreak.

 

The country's most recent confirmed case was in March.

 

A top government official said earlier that Japan stood by an import ban on US beef from cattle older than 20 months unless they had been tested for mad cow disease.

 

Japan's Food Safety Commission announced last week that meat from untested cattle 20 months old or younger could be imported without endangering public health. Japan had previously demanded US producers to test all cattle.

 

Washington wants Japan to raise that bar to 24 months, Japanese news reports say. But Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Tokyo would resist that.

 

"We've been saying that such methods may not be necessary for cows 20 months old or younger, but we have to remember that 21-month-old and 23-month-old cows could be infected," Hosoda said.

 

Japan has tested all its domestic herds going to slaughter following several cases of mad cow disease. It has urged the United States to impose a similar system after that country reported its first case last year.

 

Both sides are eager to strike a compromise to allow the import of US beef to Japan, which used to be the most lucrative overseas market for American beef.

 

Japanese consumers have preferred US beef in recent years, which is cheaper than domestic meat.