The farm ministry will conduct a comprehensive survey of mad cow disease in fiscal 2002, in conjunction with a British research institute, it was learned Saturday.

The move comes after three Japanese dairy cows were found to have been infected with the brain-wasting illness, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, this fall.

The discovery of the disease, which has led much of the general public to shun beef, has damaged the domestic meat market and prompted the government to take action to find out as much as it can about the disease.