China’s State Drug Administration (SDA) has not ruled out the possibility of completely banning the import of cow-derived pharmaceutical and medicinal materials due to fear of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) infection, following a case of illness in Thailand, according to SDA Director Zheng Xiaoyu.
Drug administration departments have designated experts to trace the side effects of cow-derived medicines, as well as rigorously examined imported drugs to ensure patients’ safe consumption.
There are now over 100 countries at risk of BSE, according to a UN official. It is reported that blood products containing BSE contents have spread from England to another 11 countries.
Soon after the first case of BSE was detected, the State Drug Administration immediately formed a special team, including experts from various medical fields, to research and trace cow-derived medicines. In the meantime, large imports of ox bile extract were banned, therefore, reducing the inflow of potentially dangerous medicinal materials.
(CIIC 02/28/2001)
