Japan Finds Suspected Diseased Cow The Associated Press Oct 12, 2001 : 6:18 am ET

TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese authorities have found a second cow in Japan suspected of having mad cow disease, officials said Friday.

Investigators conducted an examination after slaughtering the cow and expected to have the final test results Saturday, said Tokyo city management official Mamoru Sato.

Tokyo's main wholesale meat market on Friday stopped sales of beef and internal organs from about 500 cows butchered over the past two days, Sato said. It will also recall meat already sold to retailers, he added.

Officials are investigating the cow's origin, Sato said.

If confirmed, it would be the second animal found to have the brain-wasting ailment in Japan. The disease was confirmed in a dairy cow last month. Investigators suspect that the cow contracted the disease by eating infected animal feed.

Scientists have found links between mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which is fatal to humans.

The nation's agriculture and health officials have drawn criticism for being too lax and slow in taking action.

Since the outbreak, the government has asked the nation's food manufacturers to stop using ingredients made from animal parts most likely to carry mad cow disease and to immediately recall all products suspected of containing such items.

The government has also banned distribution of feed made from meat-and-bone meal.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2001