The Hokkaido Prefectural Government ordered livestock hygiene authorities Wednesday to inspect 13,000 local dairy farms after it was learned that the Chiba Prefecture cow suspected of carrying mad cow disease came from Hokkaido.
Hygiene authorities will check to see if any of the 1.27 million beef and dairy cows being bred in Hokkaido show symptoms of the disease, officials said.
The inspection, in line with the Domestic Animal Infectious Disease Control Law, will be carried out through Sept. 21 with the cooperation of local veterinarians, municipalities, and staff from farm co-ops.
Epidemiological tests will be performed on cows found showing little appetite or unusual behavior.
Inspections will also be carried out at a farm in Saroma, Chiba Prefecture, where the cow in question was bred until three years ago.
Authorities will question people at the farm about breeding conditions there, including the types of feed being used. They will also try to determine where other cows from the farm were shipped.
According to the prefectural government, the farmer gave his cows feed supplied by the local farm cooperative group Hokuren and other makers. His farm went bankrupt in 1999.
Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, was first confirmed in Britain in 1986. It is widely thought that if meat contaminated with the disease is consumed, it could lead to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the fatal human equivalent of BSE.