(JP) BSE tests--another industry scare

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http://www.asahi.com/english/national/K2002052200395.html

 

BSE tests--another industry scare

 

The Asahi Shimbun

 

Dairy farmers are on edge, wondering whose name will

be the next associated with mad cow disease.

 

``I get jolted whenever I get a call from the Japan

Agricultural Cooperatives,'' said a dairy farmer in

Hokkaido. ``That it's a notification for an

infection.''

 

The farmers' fears stem from the government's

mandatory inspections of all cattle for mad cow

disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

And authorities are bolstering the inspection

capacity.

 

Farmers are often uneasy when they send their cattle

for inspections. They fear their cows could become the

nation's fifth confirmed case of the brain-wasting

disease.

 

``The two days after shipping cattle and getting the

inspection results are filled with anxiety,'' another

cattle rancher in Hokkaido said.

 

In fact, some farmers are so nervous they are

withholding high-risk cattle from the tests.

 

Local government officials are taking a cautiously

optimistic approach to the testing.

 

``There's no need to worry. It is not an endemic

disease,'' says Jiro Hori, a veterinarian and mayor of

Saroma, Hokkaido, where a BSE-infected cow was

discovered in November.

 

``But I have to admit I would be concerned if there is

another outbreak,'' he says.

 

Inspectors have tested at least 570,000 beef cattle

for BSE.

 

The fourth case of BSE was reported earlier this

month. But pundits say they wouldn't be surprised if

30 more cattle are found with the disease, considering

the amount of imported meat and bone meal, the

suspected source of BSE, that has been consumed.

 

Experts say the absence of positive BSE tests can be

attributed, in part, to the stalled shipments of

cattle no longer used for milking, which are

considered at high risk of carrying the disease.

 

Dairy farmers, fearing potential BSE-related damage to

their businesses, are reluctant to ship such cattle.

 

According to agriculture ministry estimates in

February, farmers kept 58,000 of the aging cattle on

their farms, an increase from 44,000 late last year.

 

The government started buying aging dairy cattle at

40,000 yen per head, but Japan Agriculture affiliates

in 25 prefectures told ministry inspectors that they

were ``restraining'' shipments.

 

Food processing plants are also reluctant to accept

dairy cattle past their prime because those factories

would have to temporarily close down if BSE is

detected.

 

Only 12 prefectures told the ministry they were

willing to accept such cattle.

 

Experts are also concerned that most of the cows that

died and were then shipped for processing were not

examined for BSE. The number of such cows tops 160,000

every year.

 

In Europe, BSE is 30 times more likely to be found in

dead dairy cows compared with beef cattle. Unless the

dead cows are examined, the entire BSE picture cannot

be grasped, and this situation could lead to

international distrust, experts warn.

 

But in such cities like Saroma and Sarufutsu, dead

cattle are immediately shipped for processing because

farmers cannot afford to keep aged cows on their

premises.

 

``All we can do now is deal with an infection if it is

found,'' says Yoshimi Kudo, a division chief at

Saroma's agricultural cooperative. ``What really hurts

is that consumption isn't recovering. With the lack of

successors for farmers and the BSE scare, seven farms

were forced to close shop in the past year.''

 

A food-processing plant in Teshio, a town near

Sarufutsu, Hokkaido, was also on the brink of

suspending its business in February. The company,

barely breaking even, was hit hard by the BSE scare.

The plant continues operating with the backing of

residents, but if it is forced to suspend business, it

must transport cattle to Asahikawa, 250 kilometers

away, at a cost of 10,000 yen per head.

 

Cattle undergo a two-step inspection; the first study

is conducted by local governments and the next one

double-checks the results.

 

Considering the disease's dormant period, an

additional seven years are necessary for the

inspection process, and local governments are

increasing the number of inspectors to prepare for the

long campaign against BSE.

 

Chiba Prefecture, where the first BSE case was found,

established a ``BSE section'' within its food-safety

inspection office in April.

 

Still, only four facilities are able to conduct the

second round of inspections: Obihiro University of

Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, the National

Institute of Infectious Diseases, and the quarantine

offices in Yokohama and Kobe.

 

Morikazu Shinagawa, a professor at Obihiro University

of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine and head of the

health ministry's group of BSE experts, must conduct

his own inspections while trying to help others

whenever suspicious data pops up.

 

To make future inspections smoother, the health

ministry plans to approve inspections at local

governments as soon as preparations are completed. If

that plan is realized, inspectors could crank out

results faster.

 

Already, 16 prefectures and two cities plan to set up

their own inspection systems.

 

Household beef consumption nose-dived below half the

level of last year, just before inspections started.

The number is slowly recovering, but still remains at

70 percent of last year's level.

 

Meat distributors, meanwhile, started emphasizing

``safety,'' in response to lingering consumer fears.

 

The National Federation of Agricultural Co-operatives

Associations, or Zen-noh, along with supermarkets and

department stores, developed a tracking system that

traces the origin, feed and medication history of

meat.

 

Aeon Co., a partner of Zen-noh, installed a computer

system in its Yamato, Kanagawa Prefecture, store that

scans the products' origin.

 

Aeon plans to install the system in 30 stores by July.

The retailer also made available a copy of an

inspection certificate, as well as photos of farms,

since last November at all of its 267 stores.

 

``I feel more secure if they give us this much

information,'' said a 25-year-old homemaker who bought

beef for the first time in six months.

 

Department store Ito-Yokado Co. stopped placing

stickers of the meat producers' on its meat packages

in April. ``Consumers are starting to feel comfortable

again,'' a company official said.(IHT/Asahi: May

22,2002)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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