Brazil loses China, South Africa markets, may gain more exports to Russia
China and South Africa have halted imports of beef from Brazil following a case of atypical BSE that was confirmed last week, reports Reuters. Japan had previously suspended Brazilian imports last week.
Brazil has launched a diplomatic offensive to clarify the details of the case of suspected atypical BSE, which it has been at pains to differentiate from regular BSE - known as mad cow disease - which is usually caused by contaminated feed. In Brazil’s case, a 13-year-old cow tested positive for prions, which are the distorted proteins that can trigger BSE. The cow died of other causes and had never developed the disease.