Russia Lifts its Ban on Cattle From Canada’s British Columbia

Russia lifted its ban on cattle from British Columbia, Canada, because mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is no longer a concern there, Russian food safety watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said.

The ban on cattle from the western province dates back to outbreaks of BSE in the country in 2003, Moscow-based Rosselkhoznadzor said in an e-mailed statement today. The Russian embargo was lifted in other parts of Canada in 2007.

BSE is a transmissible brain disease that is fatal for cattle, according to the World Health Organization. Eating meat from BSE-infected animals has been tied to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, an incurable human illness that destroys brain tissue.

The Canadian Embassy press officer in Moscow was not available for comment when phoned after regular office hours.

To contact the reporter on this story: Marina Sysoyeva in Moscow at msysoyeva@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net