And health officials also gave the country a clean bill of health by reporting that no cases of the human form of the illness had been diagnosed in China.

``In line with the standards of Office International des Epizooties (OIE), we have examined 1,863 brain tissues of deceased cattle from farms and slaughterhouses throughout China since last May, and all the test results were negative,'' said Zhao Weining, division director of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The ministry has just published its ``2001 BSE Monitoring Report'' which gives a detailed analysis of how the tests were carried out and information on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

China has at least 132 million heads of cattle in stock, and has introduced nearly 6,000 cows from abroad since 1992, statistics from the ministry revealed.

To ascertain whether the animals have mad cow disease symptoms, the ministry mandated early last year that all 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities should each send 50 to 100 cattle brain tissues to the National BSE Test Center in East China's Shandong Province or the Beijing-based Chinese University of Agriculture.

``We collected and tested brain tissues of cows that were ageing, reported decreased milk production, loss of body weight or found to have symptoms such as nervousness or twitching and had been cleared of other diseases,'' said Zhao Deming, director of the Institute of Laboratory Animals under the Chinese University of Agriculture.

The year-long work has helped scientists and government officials get an accurate picture of the health situation of cows in China, he said.

The nationwide survey was conducted to follow a landmark BSE risk analysis the ministry conducted in 2000, in which it concluded that the risk of BSE occurring in China was extremely low.

The latest findings have further supported that conclusion, the director said.

Mad cow disease was first identified in Britain in 1986, which recorded 1,189 cases of BSE last year. The ailment has been reported in more than 20 countries, according to information posted on OIE's official website www.oie.int.

Early protection systems put into place in China have been largely responsible for keeping BSE out of the country, said Zhao.

China has banned imports of cattle and cattle products from BSE-infected countries since 1990 and stopped the imports of cattle and cattle products from all countries in the European Union on March 1 last year, Zhao said.

It also banned the use and import of feeds derived from ruminants to feed ruminants, which researchers have linked with the spread of mad cow disease.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Health even asked Chinese shops to clear their shelves of some imported cosmetics from BSE occurring countries, which the ministry suspected might spread mad cow disease.

An official with the ministry, who identified herself only as Zhu, confirmed Monday that there has been no cases reported in China of mad cow disease and its human version, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.

Wang Zhiliang, director of China National BSE Test Centre, said China will assess and monitor the BSE situation in its cattle sector for seven years consecutively, in line with relevant OIE stipulations.

In addition to cattle, the country will gauge the health of sheep next year, to make sure the country is free from scrapie, which is a fatal progressive neurological disorder of sheep and goats and is related to BSE.

(China Daily June 18, 2002)