Brazil hit by beef bans

A number of countries are banning beef from Brazil after it reported two cases of atypical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, or mad cow’s disease).

China was the first and now Russia and Saudi Arabia has joined and there are unofficial reports of bans from Indonesia, Egypt and Iran.

Some of the bans, such as Russia’s and China’s, are specific to parts of the country or packing plants.