MAD COW DISEASE, CJD

Japan confirms new case of mad cow disease Japan has confirmed a new case of mad cow disease, the third discovery of the brain-wasting illness in the country this year, an official said Monday. The 5-year-old dairy cow tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, on Friday at a slaughterhouse in Shisui town, in southern Kumamoto prefecture (state) about 565 miles southwest of Tokyo, prefectural spokesman official Toshinori Takano said. More precise tests at a state-run infectious disease research institute confirmed the finding on Monday, Takano said....
Japan could let regions set own mad cow standards Japan's health minister said on Tuesday it may let local governments set their own standards for mad cow tests, a move that could complicate the talks to ease a ban on U.S. beef imports. The Japanese government is considering demands from the United States that it relax a central policy that all cattle must be tested for mad cow disease. But while talks on the issue between the countries are seen moving slowly, Health Minister Chikara Sakaguchi told a news conference that he would not oppose local governments setting their own stricter safety standards....
Disease fear for Tassie 12 TWELVE Tasmanians will receive letters telling them they may have been exposed to a disease for which there is no known cure. The 12 have all had brain or spinal surgery at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in the past 18 months. They are among the 1000-plus patients who are being contacted since a patient operated on last year died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. The letter emphasises there is only the remotest chance of developing the disease, which is closely related to mad cow disease....
CJD scare: $3m to boost sterilisation at hospitals The State Government is set to spend more than $3 million on new sterilisation equipment at seven public hospitals to prevent a repeat of this week's Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease contamination scare. The announcement came as three other hospitals were drawn into the scare yesterday, following the admission on Monday by the Royal Melbourne that equipment potentially contaminated with the fatal brain disease had been used on brain and spine surgery patients for about 20 months....