Guest guest Posted September 22, 2001 Report Share Posted September 22, 2001 FYI:The first 'suspected'case has been confirmed as real BSE. http://www.asahi.com/english/tenjin/K2001092100604.html Ministry, not just cattle, needs thorough check The Asahi Shimbun, Vox Populi, Vox Dei Prion, the word for the agent believed to be the cause of mad cow disease, is not a common word that can be found in any dictionary or encyclopedia. The agent is said to turn into a pathogen as a result of some protein abnormality. Protein forms the basis of every life. The realization that something can go wrong in protein and cause lethal infection is truly terrifying. But what I find even more terrifying is the way the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry dealt with this issue. Turning it over in my mind makes my head spin. The ministry announced on Sept. 10 that a dairy cow, believed to be infected with this disease, was discovered in Chiba Prefecture. The ministry noted this animal had been incinerated. On Sept. 14, the ministry corrected its earlier statement and revealed the diseased animal had been processed into bone meal, and that the ministry had ordered the incineration of the bone meal upon tracing its whereabouts to storage facilities in Tokushima Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefecture. On Sept. 15, another announcement was made to the effect that some of the bone meal had got into distribution channels that had yet to be investigated. On Sept. 16, the distributors in question confirmed that the bone meal had not been shipped out. On Sept. 17, evidence to the contrary came to light. It was on Sept. 11 that the diseased cow's place of birth was traced to a dairy farm in Hokkaido. On the following day, the prefecture's agricultural administrators revealed that the farm had sold 72 cows. On Sept. 13, the administrators announced that the farm's cattle feed did not include any bone meal. I am still trying in vain to mentally reorganize this most chaotic train of events. Come to think of it, the first inkling of this mad cow disease scare in Japan had cropped up in August. One must wonder what the agriculture ministry was doing until it made its announcement on Sept. 10. Any excuse about the risks of ``spreading unconfirmed rumor'' does not wash in this case. Such excuses are inappropriate for crisis control. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry announced on Sept. 18 that the nation's cattle population will be put through extensive health checks. I would also recommend thorough checks for the organizations involved. (The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 20) (09/21) Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Messenger. http://im. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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