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Could BSE be transfered by animal fat products?
Monday, December 17, 2007, 4:27 PM
by Bob Meyer
The Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry reports there may be a link between some of the BSE-infected cattle in their country and milk replacer. Last March, a Professor at Hiroshima University argued that some of the Japanese cattle were infected shortly after birth, before they were exposed to contaminated meat and bone meal. He suggested the exposure may have come from contaminated milk replacer ingredients from the Netherlands. He pointed out the infections occurred in 1995 and 1996 at a time when there was a sudden increase in BSE cases in the Netherlands and Germany.
The Japanese Ministry investigated 32 BSE-infected cows in the country and says 13 of the cases could be linked to powdered animal fat produced by the same feed plant in the Netherlands. However, the Ministry stresses the results are not definite and the Netherlands says the animal fat was not contaminated with BSE.
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