Spanish
Rio de Janeiro.- The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil reported this Friday that it confirmed the detection of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI) in a commercial poultry farm in the south of the country.
It is the first outbreak recorded in a commercial poultry system in the South American country, the world's largest exporter of chicken.
The case was confirmed on Thursday by the authorities in a hatchery located in the municipality of Montenegro, in the state of Rio Grande Do Sul.
Read more: Brazil decrees state of emergency after detecting five cases of avian flu
Faced with confirmation of the virus, the Department of Agriculture issued a statement of reassurance and pointed out that the disease "is not transmitted through the consumption of poultry meat or eggs".
"The Brazilian and global populations can rest assured regarding the safety of inspected products, without any restriction on their consumption," the ministry stated in a press release.
According to the portfolio, the risk of human infection by avian influenza "is low" and in most cases occurs in people or professionals who have "intense" contact with infected birds, whether alive or dead.
The ministry assured that the authorities have already initiated containment and eradication measures for the virus, to eradicate it, protect poultry production, and guarantee food supply.
He also explained that the Brazilian veterinary service is trained and equipped to deal with the virus since the first decade of the 2000s.
The Ministry of Agriculture said that it has already initiated official communications with the entities of the productive chains involved, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), the Ministries of Health and Environment, and with Brazil's trading partners.
According to the Government, over the years various actions have been taken to prevent the entry of avian influenza into the Brazilian commercial poultry system.
Among them, she mentioned the monitoring of wild birds, epidemiological surveillance in commercial and subsistence poultry farming, the continuous training of technicians from official and private veterinary services, as well as health education actions and controls at the entry points of animals and their products into Brazil.
In June 2023, the Brazilian government reported the detection of the country's first case of avian influenza in a poultry bird, in the municipality of Serra, Espírito Santo state (southeast), which was added to 52 other outbreaks detected in wild birds in seven states that year.
Since 2006, the virus has circulated mainly in Asia, Africa, and Northern Europe, but as of 2022, the avian influenza outbreak has spread throughout much of Latin America, from Mexico to Chile.
