Brazil: the case of “mad cow” in Pará was confirmed as atypical and isolated, says ministry

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA) confirmed, on Thursday evening (2), that the case of “mad cow disease” in an animal in Pará was considered atypical by the reference laboratory of the World Organization for Animal Health (OMSA).

According to the agency, it was an isolated case of type H Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), detected in the city of Marabá (PA).

With the confirmed result, minister Carlos Favaro communicated the president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and forwarded the information to the WAHO system and the Chinese authorities.

“We received tonight [Thursday] confirmation from the reference laboratory that the case of BSE registered in Pará is atypical. I immediately informed President Lula, and we are entering the information into the system for the official communication to the World Organization for Animal Health,” said Favaro in a post on Twitter.

MAPA says it is now working to resume exports of Brazilian beef as soon as possible. The case of “mad cow disease” was recorded in a single nine-year-old animal from “natural causes,” it says, and “all sanitary measures [were] promptly adopted.”

With information from Gazeta do Povo