1.   But recently, new tests started turning up dozens of BSE cases in continental cows that apparently ate contaminated feed before the ban.

2.   But there was no immediate evidence that the feed was contaminated or that Japanese cattle contracted the disease after eating it, Sugiura said.

3.   New tests started turning up dozens of BSE cases in continental cows that had apparently eaten contaminated feed before the ban.

4.   One possibility, he said, was that the protein-rich feed was contaminated by being transported in rail cars that had carried contaminated grain.

5.   The latest scare followed a crisis in May, when the government announced dioxin had contaminated animal feed.

6.   The parliament launched an inquiry Friday into how feed became contaminated with dioxin last month, causing governments worldwide to ban imports on Belgian foodstuffs.