It was the country's first new case of the disease formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy since November.

The health and agriculture ministries said an 8-year-old Holstein cow from Kanagawa Prefecture had tested positive for BSE.

The infected cow was slaughtered Feb. 20 and was to be incinerated.

The human form of BSE, Creuzfeldt-Jakob Disease, has killed about 130 people in Europe.

Japan's food industry continues to be hard hit, especially after a ban was placed on imports of U.S. beef products in December following the first BSE case in the United States.

The United States has been trying to convince Japan, formerly the top foreign buyer of U.S. beef, to resume imports. But Japan has said it wants all U.S. cattle tested for the disease, a demand the U.S. beef industry has rejected.

The Japan Times Weekly: Feb. 28, 2004
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