Good morning! Today, we talk about the discovery of mad cow disease in the Amazon. A plan to increase funding for agricultural producers. And a drop in patent applications.
☕ If you like our work and want to give us an extra boost, you can fill up our reporters’ coffee mugs. Supporters get exclusive perks! Find out more.
Mad cow disease found in Pará
Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry has suspended beef exports to China after detecting a case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), in the Amazonian state of Pará. State officials say the case is likely atypical and poses no threat to Brazilian cattle herds or human health.
- According to the authorities, such cases are less dangerous because they “occur spontaneously and sporadically and are not related to the consumption of contaminated food.”
- Confirmation of whether the case is atypical, however, should come only after analysis by a Canadian laboratory.
Mad cow. According to the World Organization for Animal Health, “BSE is considered zoonotic because of its assumed link with the emergence of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.”
Ban. The suspension of exports to China is temporary and follows procedure established in a 2015 sanitary agreement between...