Since some 70,000 tons of Brazilian beef are stranded at Chinese ports awaiting an official clearance resolution from Beijing since the identification of an atypical case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), known as “mad cow disease” in Brazil, President Lula da Silva revealed he contacted his counterpart Xi Jinping on Juke 6, to try and overcome the situation.
The Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture confirmed it was investigating a suspected case of mad cow in the central state of Minas Gerais. The situation dating to August 31 caused abattoirs and meatpacking plants to stop the purchase of cattle with an immediate downfall in prices, expected to continue until the situation is cleared.
Irish authorities have identified a suspected case of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, on a dairy farm in County Louth, the first such case to be discovered in the country since 2013. The Irish Department of Agriculture said on Thursday the five-year-old diseased cow was discovered as part of ongoing inspections of animals that die on farms.
Brazil is investigating a potential case of atypical mad cow disease, the agriculture ministry said on Thursday, just over a year after several countries banned Brazilian beef imports when a similar case of the disease was confirmed.
German health authorities have picked up a rare atypical case of BSE in an aged cow, as part of routine screening work. A single animal from a group of 80 was found to have atypical BSE (L-type) after laboratory testing. Seven cohorts were destroyed as part of the examination, all found to be negative for BSE, following an epidemiological investigation.
The head of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) called on countries that are banning Brazilian beef imports, following a case of mad cow disease last month, to lift restrictions as soon as possible, saying they were not justified.
The world’s top beef exporter, Brazil, will give countries that curbed imports of its beef after a case of mad cow disease until March to drop the measures or it will file a complaint at the World Trade Organization, farm ministry officials said.
A scientific commission from the World Organization for Animal Health, OIE, will commence in February to study the case of atypical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, BSE, reported in the south of Brazil among a herd of animals fed on grassland.