Japanese Health Ministry officials have confirmed the first human case of mad cow disease in the country following the death of a man in December 2004, who first presented symptoms of the fatal brain wasting illness in late 2001.
A ministry official said the man is likely to have contacted the variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) during a four-week stay in Britain in 1989. Whilst the disease originated in Britain and spread through to Europe and Asia, the probability of contracting it in such a short space of time is questioned by experts.
Since it was first discovered in Japan in 2001, 15 animals have been diagnosed with the disease, the last one in October 2004. All slaughtered animals have since been tested before entering the food supply chain.
The news may hamper efforts by the USA to persuade Japan to ease its ban on US beef imports, implemented in December 2003 after the discovery of the first US case. Japan imported beef worth $1.7 billion in 2003, making it America’s most lucrative overseas beef market.
