Japan confirms 8th case of mad cow

October 6, 2003

A 23-month-old Holstein bull has been found infected

with mad cow disease, the youngest and eighth case of

the illness confirmed in Japan, officials said Monday.

It is for the first time that a cow younger than two

years old has proved to be infected with bovine

spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) while seven other

confirmed cases involved cow older than five.

Officials of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry

said that the cow in question would be burned.

The bull was raised at a farm in Otawara, Tochigi

Prefecture after being born in October 2001. Another

farm in Fukushima Prefecture took over the cow in May

last year.

It was delivered to a meat disposal center in Ibaraki

Prefecture on Sept. 29, and a local meat examination

institute checked the carcass shortly after.

Although the local institute's examination showed the

cow was positive for BSE, another examination at the

National Institute of Infectious Diseases didn't

confirm the illness.

Experts appointed by the ministry discussed the issue

and concluded it was infected with BSE on Monday.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries'

panel has said meat and bone meal feed might have been

the source of BSE infection for other seven cows, but

has not yet specified the infection origin. (Mainichi

Shimbun, Japan, Oct. 6, 2003)

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