Brazil begins this Thursday a decisive 28-day period to declare itself free of bird flu, after completing the disinfection of the farm where, last week, the first case in commercial breeding in the country was detected.
The Rio Grande do Sul government reported, in a note, that it completed the cleaning and disinfection process of the warehouses, machines and other structures and equipment at the farm in Montenegro (RS) on Wednesday night, including the office, warehouse, changing rooms and laundry.
Declaration of a country free of the disease
Last week, the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, stated that if Brazil does not register any other cases on commercial farms after a period of 28 days, he will declare the country free of the disease and await the position of importers.
“After 28 days, if there are no new cases, Brazil can declare itself free of the disease. Most likely, from that point on, it will only depend on the decision of importers. These countries will then be able to lift the embargoes,” Wagner Yanaguizawa, an analyst at Rabobank Brasil’s Research and Sector Analysis department, told Reuters.
Impacts on exports and new cases under investigation
More than 30 commercial destinations have already imposed some type of temporary suspension on chicken meat imports from Brazil, following confirmation of an outbreak of bird flu in Rio Grande do Sul.
In addition, importing countries have imposed restrictions on Brazil, which is the world's largest exporter of chicken meat. The restrictions can be national or localized. In some cases, they are limited to chicken meat from the state of Rio Grande do Sul. In others, they are limited to exports from the municipality of Montenegro, where an outbreak of avian flu occurred on a commercial farm.
According to Yanaguizawa, once the country has declared itself free of avian flu, export flows will most likely be able to return to normal.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture is still investigating 11 suspected cases of bird flu. Of these, only two are on commercial farms, located in Tocantins and Santa Catarina. Since they involve commercial production, these cases may result in embargoes by importing countries.
Most of the cases investigated are in subsistence chickens and two in wild birds, which generally do not result in commercial bans.
The state of Tocantins has ruled out the occurrence of highly pathogenic avian influenza on a local commercial poultry farm, citing preliminary test results. But the case is still under investigation by the ministry's system.
Source: Samora, Débora Ely and Ana Mano | Notícias Agrícolas
