(Calgary) China has suspended imports of Canadian beef after an atypical case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease, was found on an Alberta farm last month.
Posted at 4:59 p.m.
The Chinese market is the third largest export market for the Canadian beef industry, valued at approximately $ 170 million per year.
The Philippines and South Korea have also halted imports of Canadian beef based on the discovery of the BSE case.
The detection of the atypical case is the first case of its kind in Canada in six years. The disease has been reported six times in the United States, most recently in 2018.
Unlike the classic strain of this disease, atypical BSE poses no health risk to humans and is not transmissible.
Dennis Laycraft, executive director of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, said he expects border closures to be temporary, and ideally resolved within days or weeks.