dragging, and some have threatened sanctions unless the ban is lifted. Japanese consumer groups have demanded that the government keep U.S. beef out of this country's market to ensure food safety. Japan has found 17 cows infected with mad cow since it began testing all cattle bound for the slaughterhouse. Eating infected beef is thought to cause the human variant, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a fatal brain disorder that has killed more than 150 people, mostly in Britain in the 1990s.
