Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture has confirmed after tests that a cow that tended to face death in the year 2010 in Parana state had contracted Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). The report has been released by the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) on Friday.

Beef imports from Brazil have been suspended by Japan recently and it is being said that the reason is the cow's testing positive for BSE. Samples of the 13-year-old beef breeding cow were taken, which have shown that she carried the infection.

However, the cow did not develop the disease, the report finds. The Brazilian ministry says the infection was not responsible for the cow's death.

It was in June 2012 that the cow was tested positive and following the same, it was sent to the OIE Reference Laboratory, Weybridge, United Kingdom. The aim was to confirm its diagnosis. And on December 6 i. e. Thursday, it was confirmed too.

It was noted that the animal had been raised in extensive system on grazing. "The epidemiological investigation shows that the animal's death was not caused by BSE and suggests that it may be an atypical case of the disease occurring in the oldest animals", OIE said.