The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) is reporting the first case of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Brazil and says that it "may be atypical". The affected animal was a beef breeding cow of almost 13 years of age at the time of death (December 2010).
Brazil is still recognized by the OIE as having a negligible BSE risk in accordance with Chapter 11.5. of the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code.
After having tested negative for rabies the animal was diagnosed BSE negative based on histological testing, followed by positive immunohistochemical test results achieved by the National Agricultural Laboratory (LANAGRO-PE) (National laboratory) and by the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) (OIE’s Reference Laboratory) on December 6, 2012.
It needs to be stressed that a case of atypical BSE may seem plausible considering epidemiological information, a definitive confirmation of such diagnosis will only be possible when results of Western blotting tests will become known.
To learn more about atypical BSE see our position paper (English or Japanese) on that topic.
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