
Sunday, Nov. 09, 2003 / CALGARY (CP)-- Canada's top veterinarian says Japanese authorities should allow global experts access to tissue samples from two young bulls which recently tested positive for mad cow disease.... rapid test results from the bulls were not confirmed by the standard method used to establish bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and the world needs to know what it really means.
"Despite repeated requests from the international community for Japan to share material (with) world reference labs, Japan has indicated at this time they are not prepared to do that," said Evans, who has spent months reassuring the United States and other countries of the safety of Canadian beef following the May 20 discovery of BSE in an Alberta breeder cow."It makes it very difficult to understand whether we are dealing with a diagnostic issue in Japan... or whether we are dealing with a new strain of BSE or something previously not seen."