TOKYO (AP) -- Japan decided on Friday to ban T-bone steaks, bouillon cubes and other beef products from the backbone of cows raised in countries hit by mad cow disease.

The use of spinal cord extracts in such foods has already been prohibited in Japan, which is fighting a domestic outbreak of mad cow disease and is wary of the fatal human variant it is believed to cause.

Officials now believe entire backbones from infected animals pose similar health risks to humans when ingested, Health Ministry spokeswoman Suzuko Tanaka said.

The decision by a Health Ministry panel halts the domestic manufacture and sale of food products containing cattle backbone from Japan and nearly two dozen countries, mostly European nations, affected by the fatal brain-wasting disease, known formally as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE.

Affected products include those containing extracts or oils, such as seasoning and bouillon, as well as items like T-bone steaks.

The Health Ministry urged local agricultural authorities to immediately ban the products, although the new rules officially take effect in mid-February, Tanaka said.

The ban does not apply to imports from Australia and the United States, regions so far unaffected by mad cow disease.

Earlier this month, Japanese officials confirmed the nation's ninth known case of BSE, involving a 21-month-old bull.

Japan was the first non-European country to find its herds infected. In Europe, the disease has devastated cattle farms. Within months, Tokyo banned the use of meat-and-bone meal -- made from animal parts -- in cattle feed, which authorities believe led to the outbreak.

Mad cow is thought to cause the fatal human variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

The outbreak in Japan, although limited, caused a public uproar and emptied many restaurants specializing in beef dishes.

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