(JP) 4th Case of MCD Has just been Confirmed

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http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20020512wo31.htm

 

University confirms nation's 4th case of mad cow

disease

 

Yomiuri Shimbun

 

A Holstein cow butchered recently at a slaughter house

in Kushiro, Hokkaido, was afflicted with bovine

spongiform encephlopathy (BSE), the Obihiro University

of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine confirmed

Saturday, according to sources.

 

The case brings to four the number of domestic cows

confirmed to have had BSE, commonly known as mad cow

disease.

 

The cow was born in March 1996, around the same time

the three other cows that were found to have the

disease were born. All four cows had stopped producing

milk of a good quality before they were sent to

slaughter houses. The Health, Labor and Welfare

Ministry has noted this correlation between the cows'

birth dates and the spread of BSE in this country.

 

The ministry will appoint a panel of experts on Monday

to make a final decision on whether the cow had BSE.

 

According to sources, the Holstein was raised by a

dairy farmer in Onbetsucho and was shipped to the

slaughter house after it stopped producing good milk.

 

The cow tested positive to BSE when put through a

preliminary screening test along with other cows at

the Kushiro health center. The more precise Western

blot test was then conducted at the university, and

further positive results were produced.

 

The cow's meat and organs have been stored at the

plant and will be burnt soon, the sources said.

 

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry is

continuing its efforts to determine the path of the

BSE, the sources said.

 

The first case of BSE in domestic cows was found in

September in Shiroi, Chiba Prefecture. The next two

were discovered in November in Sarufutsumura,

Hokkaido, and Miyagimura, Gunma Prefecture. Three of

the four afflicted cows, including the Holstein, were

born in Hokkaido.

 

On Oct. 18, it became mandatory for all cows to be

screened for BSE, and about 650,000 cows have so far

been tested.

 

Copyright 2002 The Yomiuri Shimbun

 

 

 

 

 

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