China has banned imports of cattle and bovine products from Canada to avoid the spread of "mad cow disease" to China.
According to an emergency circular jointly issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and State Administration for Quality Supervision and Quarantine, cattle embryos, sperm, beef and related products from Canada are all banned from entering China.
The circular follows recent reports from the World Animal Health Organization and Canada's Food Quarantine Department on May21 saying that Alberta of Canada had reported a case of mad-cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
This is the first known case of mad-cow disease in North America, said an official with the Ministry of Agriculture.
The circular requires tight inspections on cattle imported from Canada in recent several years and their descendants. Any unusual case should be reported to the Ministry of Agriculture immediately. Suspected cases should be sent to the ministry's diagnosis center of animal diseases.
BSE is a lethal neurotic disease, which it is believed can be transferred to humans through bovine-related food. Twenty countries have reported cases since the first case was found in Britain in 1986. China is still free of the disease.
(Xinhua News Agency May 29, 2003)
