Brasília – Egypt has decided to place a 180-day embargo on beef from the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, following the disclosure of a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), popularly known as mad cow disease, at a unit of meat company Frigorífico JBS/Friboi in the state. The information has been confirmed this Friday (9th) by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply.
Egypt’s imports account for 9.62% of overall Brazilian beef exports. Last year, the state of Mato Grosso shipped 53,800 tonnes out of 144,700 tonnes shipped from Brazil.
On Thursday (8), the ministry confirmed a temporary 180-day embargo from Peru. In this case, the embargo applies to beef from all of Brazil.
On the 2nd this month, the ministry reported having received confirmation of the case from the reference laboratory of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), but whether it is an atypical or a classic case is yet to be known. The ministry is expecting a diagnosis from the laboratory this Friday or next Monday.
Tests conducted at the National Agricultural Laboratory in Pernambuco have come to the conclusion that this is an atypical case, i.e. a case where the condition arises sporadically and spontaneously, and is not linked to ingestion of contaminated food. The classical cases, which are more dangerous, involve contamination via food intoxication, and according to the ministry there are no signs that this was the case.
In order to confirm the case as atypical, 49 animals born one year prior and one year after the mad cow case were identified. All of the samples tested negative for the disease. The result leads the ministry to believe the cow contracted the condition due to old age rather than intoxication.
According to JBS/Friboi, the meat did not enter the consumer market. Mad cow disease is caused by a protein named prion, which can be transmitted to bovines and caprines fed with flour containing the meat and bones of contaminated animals. In addition to causing the death of the animals, the condition may infect human beings.
Last year, after a a case of mad cow disease was confirmed in an animal which died in 2010 in Sertanópolis (Paraná state), several countries banned Brazilian beef imports, even though it was also an atypical BSE case.
The OIE has not changed Brazil’s risk status for the disease, which remains negligible. The countries which stopped buying Brazilian beef are Japan, China, Peru, Lebanon, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the Island of Taiwan, Jordan, Chile and Iraq.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
