Kuala Lumpur,
IRNA -- Malaysia's Agriculture Ministry has directed the Veterinary
Services Department to be on the alert following a report that
two people in Thailand have been infected with "mad cow"
disease. Deputy Minister Mohd Shariff Omar said on Monday that
the department should take stringent measures to check the movement
of cattle at the Thai-Malaysian border to ensure the disease does
not break out in the country.
He said the
department should strictly follow quarantine procedures and liaise
with its Thai counterpart to determine the source of the brain-wasting
disease considering the fact that Thailand is a beef supplier
for Malaysia. "The department should also check whether farmers
in Thailand feed their livestock with bone meal from Europe, which
we have stopped giving our cattle," he said.
"We are
not taking any chances although Thailand banned the import of
beef from seven European countries two weeks ago," he added.
Mohd Shariff said the government had banned the import of beef
and bone meal when news of the deadly disease first surfaced.
The disease, officially known as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy,
is believed to be spread through infected cows fed with animal
feed. Malaysia, he said, buys its beef and animal feed supplies
from Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
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