TOKYO - Japanese officials have confirmed another case of mad cow disease, the sixth since the illness was discovered in the country in September 2001 and the first since last August.
The discovery has emerged just as public confidence in the Japanese meat industry is returning and consumption is picking up,even though the source of the disease remains a mystery.
The new case is also bad news for countries that export beef to Japan, such as Australia and the United States. New Zealand exports a small amount to Japan.
Officials said the infection, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), was found in a Holstein cow from Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost main island.
The outbreak of the disease has hit beef consumption in Japan and has battered public confidence in the food industry.
Mad cow disease has been linked to variant creutzfelt-jakob disease, which has killed about 125 people worldwide.
There have been no deaths in Japan, although scientists point out that symptoms may take years to develop.
Four of the six cases of mad cow have been found in cows from Hokkaido.
An investigating panel last year slammed the government for ignoring warnings from the World Health Organisation and European Commission that might have prevented the crisis.
Cattle are widely believed to get the brain-wasting disease by eating contaminated meat-and-bone meal.
The Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry has been carrying out BSE tests on all cattle for human consumption since October 2001.
The government has earmarked 207 billion yen ($3.23 billion) to crack down on mad cow disease in the fiscal year to March.
