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Japan

Possible Eighth Case of BSE Detected in Japan

Preliminary tests indicate an eighth case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was detected in Japan February 7th; it would be the first case in a non-dairy cow, according to Japanese officials. Minoru Yamamoto of the Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Ministry stated officials are currently conducting a second, more precise examination to ascertain if BSE is truly present.  

If confirmed, this 20-year-old cow from a farm in Kanagawa, next to Tokyo, would be the first non-dairy cow in Japan to contract BSE.  All seven previous cases were Holsteins born between December 1995 and April 1996, and six were fed with the same milk supplement; the agriculture ministry is investigating if the seventh case (found on January 22nd) and eighth case were also fed this supplement.

The Japanese government claims the case illustrates its BSE detection system is working effectively; full screening began for all cattle destined for human consumption in October 2001, less than one month after the first Japanese case was detected.

Japanese beef consumption has seen a steady increase over the past year and a half since the initial BSE crisis, partially due to the successful USMEF campaign (see news release archive /TradeLibrary/News02_0904a.asp ). USMEF led a team of beef industry representatives to Japan just two months ago to examine the current improvement in beef trade (/TradeLibrary/News02_1213b.asp ).