Japan's mad cow scare rings alarm bells for Asia

Japan's mad cow scare rings alarm bells for Asia

SINGAPORE (Agencies): A suspected case of mad cow disease in Japan will make Asian countries, already on high alert for foot- and-mouth disease, even more cautious about meat imports and feed supplies, livestock industry sources said on Tuesday.

The Japanese case of mad cow, detected in initial tests on a dairy cow near Tokyo, would be Asia's first reported instance of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) -- all the more surprising since Japan is widely regarded as having the region's toughest veterinary controls.

"This can certainly send a strong signal to whole of Asia to further reduce meat-and-bone meal (MBM) use due to the uncertain sources of contamination," Abdul Rahman, executive consultant to the Federation of Livestock Farmers Associations of Malaysia, told Reuters from Kuala Lumpur.

The disease, believed to be transmitted through infected MBM fed to cattle, has been linked to the deadly brain-wasting variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) in humans.

"There is definitely a reason for worry but certainly no reason to panic, at least at this stage," said one beef trade official. "Japan exports very little beef."

According to the U.S. Meat Export Federation, Japan exported only 69 tons of beef in 2000/2001 (April-March). It imported about 738,415 tons of beef in the same year, with the U.S. and Australia being the key suppliers.

Nevertheless, some Asian countries are taking no chances with the small amount of meat they import from Japan. South Korea and Singapore responded swiftly to Monday's news by slapping temporary bans on meat imports from Japan.

However, trade analysts felt the threat of the disease spreading to other countries was limited.

Livestock industry officials said many Southeast Asian countries, where beef consumption is relatively low compared to Japan, remained at risk as the standards adopted by them were nowhere near the ones adopted by Japan.

"If it can happen in a country like Japan which is very careful, other Asian countries could possibly be at risk," said R.B. Singh, the Food and Agriculture Organization's assistant director general and Asia Pacific regional representative.

Although FAO officials doubted the possibility of a major outbreak of mad cow in Japan, a British scientist who has worked on the disease since 1988 said it could be the first of many in Japan's cattle herd.

Scientists have identified Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan and Sri Lanka as possible victims of the deadly disease, but some experts feel the threat has diminished in many Asian nations.

"Countries in Asia are not completely insulated but the risks have been considerably reduced after they enforced stricter standards, and are dropping," said Joel Haggard, vice president for Asia Pacific of the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

Many Asian countries, which earlier used a lot of meat-based animal feed, sharply cut use after Britain's mad cow outbreak and have moved to alternative feedstuffs.

"We have already seen a major shift in Asia to soy and corn- based feed from meat-based feeds. In the longer term, feed makers will slowly realize that use of meat-based feed may not be worth the complications that follow," said a Kuala Lumpur-based grains trader. "The mindset is changing."

Meanwhile, AFP reported, the Japanese agriculture ministry Tuesday held emergency talks to discuss the suspected mad cow disease.

Bureaucrats at the ministry of agriculture were huddled in two separate meetings, one involving academics who are to advise the government on technical matters, and an eight member "BSE Epidemic Prevention Committee," of hygiene and quarantine experts set up on Monday, ministry officials said.

"The academics will advise the ministry how to handle this matter," said a ministry spokesman.

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tsutomu Takebe expressed regret at the news.

"We have taken emergency measures such as probing into where the cow came from and how the feed was supplied as well as the isolation of the farm," he told a news conference.