(JP)Farm ministry to review mad cow disease tests

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Farm ministry to review mad cow disease tests

 

Yomiuri Shimbun

Sep 11, 2001

 

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry will

reexamine its testing procedures for mad cow disease

following the discovery of a cow believed to be

infected in Chiba Prefecture, sources said Tuesday.

 

A panel of experts made the decision Tuesday after it

was reported that the National Institute of Animal

Health in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, failed to

detect the fatal brain disorder known as bovine

spongiform encephalopathy when it initially examined

the cow.

 

According to sources, the cow, from a dairy farm in

Shiroi, Chiba Prefecture, initially tested negative on

a test for the presence of prions, protein particles

thought to cause the disease. Later, however, a tissue

sample from the cow was found to be positive through

another testing method, the sources said.

 

Some observers called the first testing method

insufficient and said the testing procedures for the

disease should be completely reviewed.

 

The animal hygiene research institute is to provide

the panel with further information concerning the

5-year-old Holstein heifer that is believed to have

contracted the disease, including the test data. The

institute will then study alternative testing methods

with the help of the ministry and experts in the

disease.

 

On Aug. 15, the research institute obtained a sample

of the brain of the cow from the Chiba prefectural

government and tested it for prions. The initial

results were negative.

 

However, the prefectural government reexamined the

sample using a microscope and found spongelike

cavities--a classic sign of mad cow disease. Following

that, the prefectural government asked the research

institute to reexamine the sample, focusing on the

cavities. This time the result was positive.

 

The ministry introduced the prion testing method for

the detection of mad cow disease in April as the

method was said to be easy to use and highly accurate.

The ministry initially planned to test 300 cows a year

using this method.

 

 

 

 

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