Caloocan vets on alert for 'mad cow' products

MANILA, Philippines - The Caloocan City government alerted yesterday the city veterinary office for the possible entry in the local markets of meat products contaminated with the brain, spinal cord or digestive tract of infected carcasses.

Mayor Enrico Echiverri ordered the veterinary office to particularly watch out for beef and other meat products coming from the United States, Canada, France and other European countries following reported cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy from these areas.

Echiverri said that based on the reports of the National Meat Inspection Service and the Department of Health, one out of every 100 kilos of beef imported from these countries “may be contaminated.”

He said that according to the DOH, a person could develop new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease after consuming contaminated beef products.