Another case of BSE discovered in Brazil: Peru and Egypt impose temporary bans

Related tags Bovine spongiform encephalopathy

A second case of BSE has been detected in Brazil almost 18 months after one was confirmed in the Parana region of the country.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has identified an atypical BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) case in Mato Grosso state, which is the leading beef producing region in Brazil.

Peru has banned the import of beef from all of Brazil for 180 days, and Egypt has banned imports from the state of Mato Grosso, for the same period, said Brazil's agricutlure ministry.

The OIE said the origin of infection is unknown or inconclusive.

The animal in question was raised under an extensive system involving grass feeding with the addition of mineral salts only.

It was slaughtered at 12 years of age.

During the epidemiological investigation, 49 animals from the cohort, which did not show clinical signs of the disease, were destroyed.

Mato Grosso state has a herd of 28.4 million and accounted for 19% of total beef exports from Brazil in 2013.