China has detected traces of coronavirus in imported meat

After the Argentine case that caught Senasa’s attention, the Chinese city of Wuhan, the origin of the epidemic coronavirus, reported today that it also detected traces of the virus in three samples taken from brazil beef. Since the discovery of the positive samples on Thursday, the 27-ton batch of meat has been isolated and the storage area disinfected.

The meat had been in cold storage since it arrived in China in August from Santos, where Brazil’s main port is, in the state of São Paulo.

It was first kept in a warehouse in Qingdao, in the northeast of the country, and then in Wuhan. As the city’s health commission said in a statement, “it had not entered the market”

The city of Wuhan “quickly adopted emergency measures such as the sealed storage of goods, the isolation of personnel and the disinfection of the premises,” according to the text. Authorities added that 112 warehouse workers were sampled and all tested negative.

In any case, Wuhan, the capital of Hubéi province, urged its residents “not to buy imported frozen foods online and to actively check the nucleic acid test reports of the products before purchasing them” .

The statement did not mention any action against the Brazilian exporter or any suspension of imports.

China, which has regularly found traces of the virus in imports, previously announced temporary suspensions of imports from several suppliers following positive samples and outbreaks at factories of foreign suppliers.

Earlier this week, a previous batch of meat from Argentina contained traces of coronavirus on the outer packaging, but not in the product, according to the National Service of Health and Agri-Food Quality (Senasa).

Other similar cases

In August, the city of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, announced that health authorities detected the virus in samples taken from frozen chicken wings from Brazil, world’s leading producer of chicken meat.

In contrast, Wuhu, in the eastern province of Anhui, said in August that it had discovered virus in Ecuadorian shrimp packages, which were kept in the freezer of a restaurant in town.

Packages of white shrimp that tested positive for the coronavirus at the Chinese ports of Dalian and Xiamen also came from Ecuador in July.

As a result of these findings, imports from three Ecuadorian companies were immediately blocked, a measure which was subsequently lifted.