Japan confirms 25th case of mad cow disease in a 5-year-old

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Subject: Japan confirms 25th case of mad cow disease in a 5-year-old Holstein
Date: April 19, 2006 at 6:07 am PST

Japan confirms 25th case of mad cow disease
Japan has confirmed its 25th case of mad cow disease in a 5-year-old Holstein, officials said Wednesday.

Meat inspectors in Okayama Prefecture found late Monday that a dairy cow, intended to be slaughtered for meat, had tested positive for the disease. The ministry had initially announced the cow to be 6 years old.

A panel of Health Ministry experts confirmed the infection Wednesday, according to ministry official Kenichi Watanabe.

Japan, which conducts mad cow tests on all cattle killed for meat, has confirmed 25 cases since 2001, including four cases this year, Watanabe said.

The news comes as the U.S. and Japan discuss possible safeguards against the brain-wasting disease that might allow Tokyo to resume U.S. beef imports.

Japan in January reintroduced a ban on American beef products after a U.S. veal shipment was found to contain prohibited spinal bones.

That came just a month after Tokyo eased a previous ban two-year-long ban, imposed in 2003 after the discovery of the first case of mad cow disease in the American herd -- but only for meat from cows aged 20 months or younger with risky body parts removed.

Mad cow is a degenerative nerve disease in cattle. Eating contaminated meat products has been linked to the rare but fatal human variant, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which causes brain tissues to waste.

There have been three confirmed cases of the disease in the U.S. Tests for the disease are much less stringent in the U.S. (AP)


http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/business/ ... 8000c.html


TOKYO (AFX) - Japan confirmed its 25th case of mad cow disease, amid growing US pressure on Tokyo to resume US beef imports stopped twice over fears of the brain-wasting disease.

A female Holstein from a farm in the western prefecture of Okayama was confirmed by the health ministry to be infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

It tested positive in a general screening when it was slaughtered two days ago and the ministry's expert panel on the disease confirmed the infection, the ministry said in a statement.

'Its meat, internal organs and other parts will be incinerated and will not be distributed to the market,' the statement said.

The latest cases of BSE, which decimated the UK's cattle industry in the 1990s, emerged amid a row over Tokyo's renewed ban on US beef due to safety concerns.

Japan halted imports of US beef in December 2003 after a cow infected with BSE was discovered in the US state of Washington. Before then, the country had been the top export market for US beef.

In December last year Japan resumed beef imports after coming under intense pressure from Washington, its closest ally.

But it slapped a new ban on imported US beef on January 20 after a shipment violated Japanese safety guidelines requiring the removal of risky body parts.

Japan is the only Asian country to have confirmed BSE cases. Its first case was discovered in September 2001, prompting the government to screen every cow slaughtered for consumption -- a step not taken by the US.

sps/sct/sm/net

http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/af ... 79900.html


Japan has confirmed its 25th case of mad cow disease in a 5-year-old Holstein , a news report said Wednesday. Meat inspectors in Okayama prefecture (state) in western Japan found late Monday that a dairy cow, intended to be slaughtered for meat, had tested positive for the disease. The ministry had initially announced the cow to be 6 years old.

A panel of Health Ministry experts confirmed the infection Wednesday, according to ministry official Kenichi Watanabe. Japan , which conducts mad cow tests on all cattle killed for meat, has confirmed 25 cases since 2001, including four cases this year, Watanabe said.

The news comes as the U.S. and Japan discuss possible safeguards against the brain-wasting disease that might allow Tokyo to resume U.S. beef imports. Japan in January reintroduced a ban on American beef products after a U.S. veal shipment was found to contain prohibited spinal bones.

That came just a month after Tokyo eased a previous ban two-year-long ban, imposed in 2003 after the discovery of the first case of mad cow disease in the American herd but only for meat from cows aged 20 months or younger with risky body parts removed.

Mad cow is a degenerative nerve disease in cattle. Eating contaminated meat products has been linked to the rare but fatal human variant, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which causes brain tissues to waste. There have been three confirmed cases of the disease in the U.S, reports the AP.

N.U.

http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/19- ... 50-Japan-0



The implications of the Swiss result for Britain, which has had the
most BSE, are complex. Only cattle aged 30 months or younger are eaten
in Britain, on the assumption, based on feeding trials, that cattle of
that age, even if they were infected as calves, have not yet
accumulated enough prions to be infectious. But the youngest cow to
develop BSE on record in Britain was 20 months old, showing some are
fast incubators. Models predict that 200-300 cattle under 30 months
per year are infected with BSE and enter the food chain currently in
Britain. Of these 3-5 could be fast incubators and carrying detectable
quantities of prion.


If one were to test cattle routinely at abattoirs in Britain, it is
possible that only those 3-5 would be detectable, and thus could be
kept out of the food chain. So routine testing may not be
cost-effective. On the other hand, these predictions are based
entirely on modelling. Some think that at least a study similar to the
Swiss one should be carried out in Britain to actually measure the
extent of infection, especially if there is a subclinical strain that
is not reflected in models based on clinical incidence.


snip...




http://www.sare.org/sanet-mg/archives/h ... /0359.html




https://web01.aphis.usda.gov/BSEcom.nsf ... AutoFramed




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