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Japan Reports First Mad Cow Disease Fatality

Posted February. 04, 2005 22:55,   

한국어

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare confirmed the first human case of Mad Cow disease in Japan Friday, saying a Japanese patient died of the fatal disease.

The male patient, according to an official of the Ministry, was in his 50s, and stayed in Britain for several months in 1989. He might have been infected on Japanese soil, however, since this disease was first reported in 1996, the Asahi Shimbun reported.

The human variant of Mad Cow Disease, officially known as Crutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, is known to be transmitted by eating infected cow brains, bone marrow, or meat.

This is the first human case of the disease to be found in Japan, although many cases have been reported in Europe. The first human case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease case was reported in Britain. The Korean Ministry of Agriculture announced that it is not considering additional preemptive measures because meat imports from Japan have already been banned since September 2001 when the first such case was reported in a Japanese cow.



Hun-Joo Cho Jong sik Kong hanscho@donga.com kong@donga.com