By IANS,
New Delhi : The government Monday said India has received “the most secure status” for the deadly mad cow disease, which means the country has a “negligible risk” for the illness.
“The World Organization for Animal Health, at its 78th general session held in Paris recently, recognized India as having ‘negligible risk’ for mad cow disease, known technically as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). This category represents the most secure status of a country with reference to BSE,” said an agriculture ministry statement.
The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) is an international inter-governmental organization responsible for improving animal health worldwide.
With this recognition, India joins an exclusive group of 12 other countries which includes Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
“Several advanced countries like the US, Britain, Switzerland, Canada, France, Germany, and Japan, figure in a lower category of ‘controlled risk’ for the mad cow disease,” said the statement.
“The latest recognition has been hailed by India’s livestock sector and, in particular, by the country’s meat industry, which exports about 50,000 tonnes of bovine meat to over 60 countries annually, earning valuable foreign exchange of nearly Rs.5,000 crore,” it added.
BSE or mad cow disease is a fatal disease of the nervous system of cattle. It has acquired the “mad cow” name as one of its common symptoms is aggressive behaviour in the affected animals.