Brazilian beef export to China suspended due to mad cow disease

Brazilian beef exports to China are suspended as of today (Feb. 23) due to the confirmation of a case of mad cow disease in Pará state, as informed by the Ministry of Agriculture.

In a note published on Wednesday (22), the ministry explained that the suspension follows the sanitary protocol between both countries and ruled out the existence of risk to consumers.

"Dialogues with authorities are being intensified to clarify all the information and the prompt resumption of trade in Brazilian meat," the ministry informed.

The ministry also provided more details about the case, explaining that the disease affected a nine-year-old male animal, an age considered advanced for cattle, on a small property in Marabá, in the state of Pará. The animal was raised on pasture, with no industrialized feed, and had its carcass incinerated on the farm, which was interdicted by the local government as a preventive measure.

The case was reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) and samples were sent to the reference laboratory of the institution in Alberta, Canada. After analyses, the laboratory will confirm if the case is atypical, that is, without risk of transmission to other cattle and humans, the Ministry of Agriculture informed.

"All measures are being taken immediately at each stage of the investigation and the issue is being treated with full transparency to ensure Brazilian and global consumers the recognized quality of our meat," Minister Carlos Fávaro said in a statement.

Suspension

This is the second time in a year and a half that Brazil suspends beef exports to China. From September to December 2021, the Asian country, Brazil's biggest meat buyer, suspended purchases after two atypical cases, in the states of Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso.

So far, Brazil has not registered classic cases of mad cow disease, caused by the ingestion of contaminated meat and pieces of bones. Caused by a prion, a protein molecule without genetic code, mad cow is a degenerative disease also called bovine spongiform encephalitis. The modified proteins consume the animal's brain, making it comparable to a sponge.