Brazil declared free of mad cow disease

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 28 (Xinhua) -- The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) has maintained that Brazil is free of mad cow disease, said the Brazilian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday

The Paris-based OIE has said several times the risk of mad cow disease in Brazil is at a "negligible" level, since a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was discovered in Brazil in 2010, which had prompted 17 countries to impose import bans on Brazilian meat.

The fatal neurodegenerative disease, which was first discovered in cows in Britain, has spread across the world over the past decades. It is believed to have killed over 100 people.

OIE Director General Bernard Vallat said he saw no reason for such restrictions. "One case in a population of 200 million heads of cattle does not justify a change of status," he said.

According to safety categories of the OIE, being negligible is the safest level. It is given to countries that "have shown the mad cow disease is either non-existent or extremely restricted."

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