BSE origins baffle Japan

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BSE origins baffle Japan

By Bayan Rahman and Nobuko Juji in Tokyo

Published: September 11 2002 5:00 | Last Updated:

September 11 2002 5:00

 

The Japanese government yesterday said it was unclear

how mad cow disease had infected Japanese cattle, one

year after the brain-wasting disease was first

diagnosed in the country.

 

The admission is unlikely to engender confidence in

the government's handling of food safety after a

series of food-related incidents shook the public's

trust in the industry and its regulators.

 

The agriculture ministry said it was uncertain how

five cows became infected with mad cow disease, or

bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). But it

suggested at least three possibilities involving

contaminated meat and bone meal (MBM) and fertiliser

from Europe, where more than 100 people have died from

the BSE-linked Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease over the past

decade. It called for a further investigation into the

causes of the disease in Japan.

 

But some farmers, traditional supporters of the

Liberal Democratic party-led government, believe the

administration had enough information to prevent the

outbreak.

 

In 1996 the World Health Organisation advised member

states against the use of MBM in animal feed and four

years later Tokyo quibbled with a European Union

report that warned of the risk of BSE in Japan because

it used imported MBM.

 

More than 60 farmers in Hokkaido, Japan's northern

island, plan to file a lawsuit next month seeking

Y200m ($1.7m, & #8364;1.73m, £1.1m) in compensation.

 

Tsutomu Takebe, the agriculture minister, admitted

that the government's handling of the BSE affair had

done little to bolster public confidence. " The

administration's confused response has led the public

to distrust the government. "

 

 

 

 

 

 

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