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Japan: Cows show signs of mad
cow disease
TOKYO-Other cows bred with a dairy cow believed to have
contracted mad cow disease had also showed symptoms of the
brain-wasting illness, the diseased animal's owner said,
according to news reports released on September 12, 2001.
"There were some cows that died in a similar manner," the
farmer from Chiba, just east of Tokyo, told the Sankei Shimbun.
An agriculture ministry official, however, said he had not
confirmed the reports. "We have not received such a report
from our local officers," said the official, who declined to
be named. Earlier in the day, Japan's agricultural ministry
started on-the-spot inspections on a total of 142 feed plants
across the nation.
"We began the inspection as feed is believed to be a possible
source of the suspected infection," a ministry official said.
"We hope to finish it by September 25." The agriculture
ministry announced Monday that brain tissue from a five year
old holstein dairy cow bred in Chiba, had tested positive for
mad cow disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). If
confirmed by British BSE experts, it would be the nation's
first known case.
The Philippines said Wednesday that it had banned Japan's
livestock, meat and animal-derived feed meal exports. Other
Asian countries, including South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan
have already taken similar action. BSE was first found in
Britain in the late 1980s. European countries banned the use
of bonemeal animal feed made in Britain in 1990 following a
contamination warning, but Japan only took action six years
later.
September 13, 2001
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