Koizumi urges thorough disclosure of mad cow info

Japan Policy & Politics, Oct 1, 2001

TOKYO, Sept. 27 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH ADDITIONAL INFO)

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday stressed the need to promote the disclosure of accurate information to prevent unfounded rumors from misleading consumers in the wake of Japan's first outbreak of mad cow disease.

The mad cow problem is ''very serious and citizens are starting to avoid even safe beef,'' Koizumi told reporters.

While the agriculture and health ministries are being criticized for lax handling of the issue, the premier said the government will thoroughly review the case to find out where mistakes and oversights were made in dealing with the disease.

Earlier in the day, Koizumi warned Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tsutomu Takebe and Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi about their ''inappropriate'' response to the problem and instructed them to take necessary measures to recover public trust, according to government officials.

Lack of communication between the ministries has sown public confusion and distrust toward the government, Koizumi was quoted as saying.

Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), was first confirmed in Britain in 1986. It is thought to cause Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the fatal human equivalent of BSE.

A case involving a Holstein dairy cow suspected of having mad cow disease was discovered at a farm in Chiba Prefecture earlier this month and British government veterinarians later confirmed the animal had the fatal brain-wasting illness.

Although it is caused by an abnormal prion protein that tends to stay in certain organs including the brain and spinal cord, the National Institute of Animal Health did not examine those organs when it carried out nationwide inspections of cows showing neurological symptoms.

But Hideaki Kumazawa, vice agriculture minister, said the state-run laboratory's inspections, which found no other infected cows, are ''fully reliable.''

Meanwhile, the health ministry on Thursday convened a meeting of officials in charge from prefectural and other local governments and urged them to have meat processors fully dispose of cow brains, spinal cords, eyes and the tips of small intestines by fire as they may transmit the disease to humans who consume them.