Japan hit by BSE
Countries around the world are starting to respond to the news from Japan of a suspected case of BSE. The animal concerned was a five-year old dairy cow from the Chiba Prefecture. If confirmed, the case would be the first of its kind in Asia
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has prohibited imports of beef and other ruminant meats as well as all ruminant by-products from Japan. Taiwan's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has also imposed restrictions on imports pending the release of further information.
BSE or mad-cow disease is a brain-wasting illness that has been linked to the human variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), which has now been contracted by about 100 people in Britain since the mid-1980s.
