U.S., SAYS BEEF SAFE DESPITE MAD COW, BUT JAPAN KEEPS BAN
Japan, the largest market for U.S. beef exports, will send a fact-finding team to the United States in early January to gather more information about the case, officials from both countries agreed during a meeting in Tokyo on Monday.
Since last week's news of the discovery of mad cow disease — bovine spongiform encephalopathy — in a dairy cow in Washington state, U.S. officials have recalled 10,000 lbs (4,536 kgs) of beef. Meat from the infected cow and 19 others slaughtered on Dec. 9 was shipped to eight states and Guam.
A USDA spokeswoman said it was "too soon to say" whether the meat recall would be expanded beyond 10,000 pounds.
Mad cow is a fatal disease that destroys the brains of its victims. It is caused by misshapen proteins called prions and can be spread by eating the brains, spinal cords, and central nervous system tissue of infected animals.
Ron DeHaven, chief veterinarian at the Agriculture Department, said in television interviews there was no need for concern among Americans although meat from the infected cow was sent to grocery stores. Some of it may have been consumed.
"Again, I would emphasize that the science today as we know it says that meat is completely safe," DeHaven said on ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" program. Prions are not found in meat, he said, and instead are "found primarily in central nervous system tissues."
DeHaven said the government was "taking a look at our current system" for detecting and preventing mad cow disease. "We'll make the necessary adjustments," he said.
A rare and deadly human form of the disease known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease has been linked to the consumption of contaminated cattle products.
The Bush administration is under pressure from consumer groups and lawmakers who have criticized the U.S. detection system, which tests suspect animals but allows their meat to be sold before a diagnosis is complete.
