MAD COW PROBE IN JAPAN SPURS NEW WORRY

COELI CARR

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The first suspected case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Japan should serve as another warning for the U.S. meat industry to increase safeguards against the stealthy, border-crossing malady, said animal disease experts.

"I don't think the Japanese incident itself raises the alarm in the U.S. about BSE, but it adds pressure to our government to be alert about how this affects all levels of the food system, from farmer to retailer," said William Hueston, D.V.M., Ph.D., director, Center for Animal Health & Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minn.

Japanese officials reported that the suspected case of BSE infection -- discovered in a dairy cow in the city of Chiba -- was almost certainly contracted through imported, animal-based feed. Published reports state the Japanese government admitted that the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries may have been lax in preventing BSE, especially with respect to instructing its farmers not to use the feed. The cow has since been traced to a breeder in Hokkaido, where health officials are checking herds for additional symptoms of infection.

"Japanese officials told their people they were safe, but they weren't," Hueston told SN. "If there's a lot of press coverage in the U.S. about what happened in Japan, people in this country will draw the analogy that, even though we're being told we're safe, maybe we're not."

However, there is some level of activity indicating that the United States is taking steps to reassure consumers at some level. The state of Minnesota established the "Minnesota Certification Program," or MinnCert, which sets legal guidelines for certification of agricultural producers. Subsequently, five pig farmers came together and developed -- in conjunction with the University of Minnesota -- Minnesota Certified Pork, which is currently shipped under the Swift label and carried by St. Paul-based Kowalski's Markets, a four-store chain.

"The fact the pork is Minnesota-grown gives customers confidence," said Phil Perrault, meat director at Kowalski's Woodbury store. "Customers know the state is on top of these issues and that makes people comfortable about it because they know it's a safe product."

The farmers gave Kowalski's an exclusive to carry MinnCert pork and all stores carry the line's boneless and bone-in loins, sirloins and butts.

Hueston noted that more U.S. feed producers are certifying their product as well, a process learned from their European counterparts.

"In England and some other countries in Europe, you can, by reading a meat label, learn not only the cut and the price, but where it came from, even the farm," Hueston said, noting that "Europe has learned a lot" since the recent outbreaks.

"I think, in time, consumers in the United States will expect and eventually see certification of origin and farming practices on the label," he said.

The Japanese investigation has spread to the city of Fukushima, where officials found no suspected cases after inspecting 17,000 cows purchased from dairy farmers in Hokkaido and Chiba. And in the town of Hasaki, officials also inspected a feed manufacturing plant where tainted components are believed to be stored and where parts of the carcass of a dairy cow suspected of having the disease were feared to have been used in feed for chickens and pigs.

While an initial test conducted by officials on a tissue sample from the Chiba cow's brain tested negative, a subsequent test revealed holes in the brain tissue, and a third yielded positive status, according to published reports. The health ministry has ordered a stop to the sale of meat from cows at the dairy farm in question, and is investigating distribution channels, such as supermarkets, to learn now much meat from that farm have been shipped.

It has been estimated that until 1996 -- when Britain restricted exports after discovering humans could also contract BSE in the form of variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease -- Japan had been importing more than 300 tons of meat-and-bone meal feed from Europe annually, according to published reports.

"Japan isn't the last country an outbreak can happen in," Hueston said. "There can be as many as 15 countries where they might identify a case of BSE. As more countries identify the problem, it will hit home in the United States. We didn't import bone meal, but my motto is, never say never."

Hueston believes that the United States will one say see a case of CJD because of the many people who've been exposed to BSE while living in the United Kingdom and other countries. If this should happen, he says, consumers' will begin to look very carefully at what they're buying.

Japanese media has also been vocal in its concerns about the incident. A recent Japan Times editorial called on the government to take swift action to prevent further outbreaks, including examination of all bone meal currently stored in the country. Because of the disease's eight-year incubation period, it's possible this first case is a harbinger of more to come, the newspaper warned. The editorial encouraged the government to clarify the route of infection and establish a surveillance system to detect infected cows; it also noted that Japan's increasing preference for a meat-oriented diet requires greater food-safety vigilance and livestock security.