São Paulo – Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, Carlos Fávaro, said on Tuesday (27) that the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) detected at a commercial farm in the city of Montenegro, Rio Grande do Sul state, has been fully contained. Speaking at a public hearing of the Senate’s Agriculture and Agrarian Reform Committee, Fávaro also said the vast majority of global markets recognize the strength of Brazil’s sanitary system.
According to the minister, after the virus was detected at the commercial farm, all measures outlined in the Contingency Plan were implemented, including the establishment of seven sanitary barriers in the region. The information was released by the agriculture ministry. Tuesday marked the fifth day since the complete disinfection of the farm was concluded, and 15 days had also ed since the avian influenza outbreak was identified.
“I can assure you, with great confidence, that the focus in Montenegro is completely contained. If there had been any spread to other regions, we’d have already recorded new cases of mortality. The fact that we have gone through this period without new reports proves that the Brazilian health system works. The measures put in place were effective,” said the minister.
According to international protocols, once the cleanup and disinfection of the affected property are completed, a 28-day sanitary waiting period begins. If no new outbreaks are reported during this time, Brazil will be able to self-declare the region free of the disease. “And this is very likely to be confirmed in the coming days,” said Fávaro.
According to information released by the agriculture ministry, the minister also highlighted the confidence of trade partners in the Brazilian sanitary system. Out of the 160 countries that import poultry meat from Brazil, only a few imposed temporary restrictions, as outlined in international protocols.
On Friday (23), the agriculture ministry released its latest update regarding countries imposing restrictions on Brazilian chicken meat imports. The buyers that had completely suspended imports from Brazil included Albania, Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, China, Dominican Republic, European Union, Iraq, India, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, Uruguay, and Vietnam.
Others had suspended imports restricted to the state of Rio Grande do Sul, where the outbreak was recorded: Angola, Armenia, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Montenegro, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, Japan and the United Arab Emirates had restricted purchases only from the municipality of Montenegro.
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda
