The confirmation of a first positive case of avian influenza (bird flu) in poultry –used for meat production for human consumption– in Argentinain the province of Río Negro, is “very bad news” for Uruguaystated to The Observer Diego De Freitas, general director of the Livestock Services of the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP).
The case was confirmed this Tuesday by the National Agrifood Health and Quality Service (Senasa)which indicated that Argentina temporarily lost its disease-free status and self-suspended the export of poultry productscomplying with international standards.
Although the site of the discovery is about 1,300 kilometers from the farming areas of Uruguay, “it is never good that there are sanitary difficulties in the region”said the hierarch.
He explained that although in the short term there may be a specific benefit, due to an eventual increase in external demand for Uruguayan poultry meat in this case, “It is not positive that the disease is in a neighboring country”.
De Freitas even said that, in the face of recent inquiries from producers about whether it is good or bad that Brazil has once again had a case of mad cow, he immediately transferred that reflection: “Any health problem in the region is never a good thing for Uruguay.”
The situation in Argentina does not generate changes in the procedures that take place within borders. Surveillance continues to be at the highest level, both by the MGAP livestock services and in the private sector.
De Freitas confirmed that what reassures in Uruguay is that there are only cases in one species, the black-necked swan, and in only one area of the territory, in the Laguna de Garzón, in Maldonado.
Daniel Pereyra, spokesperson for the chicken masonry sector, agreed with De Freitas: “It is very bad news, even for us, I speak on behalf of the producers, we are really much more concerned that the disease is already in Argentina in poultry than that it is in Uruguay in black-necked swans”he expressed.
“You have to continue taking all possible precautions, each one from your place,” he added, given that in the event of the disease reaching Uruguay the impacts on the poultry chain will be “tremendous.”
John Samuelle
Broiler chicken fattening shed.
The reality of bird flu in Argentina
Senasa highlighted that Avian production for domestic consumption in Argentina will continue to develop normally, since avian influenza is not transmitted through the consumption of chicken meat and eggs..
The refrigerators that had been exporting will be able to market their products in the domestic market.
The positive case comes from a broiler chicken establishment located in the town of Mainque, province of Río Negro, south of the Patagonian zoophytosanitary barrier, in an area of low poultry density.
Senasa decided to carry out the corresponding containment measures, established in the avian influenza contingency manual, in order to avoid the spread of the disease in other establishments that produce birds destined for the commercial circuit.
At the same time, following international protocols, the Senasa authorities officially communicated the news to the World Organization for Animal Health (WHO).
Authorities, professionals and technicians from Senasa are already working in order to achieve the prompt restitution of the country’s status free of the disease, and the resumption of poultry exports, the site indicated. argentina.gob.ar.
The data
In Argentina, of 177 notifications analyzed by the Senasa Laboratory, to date there are 25 confirmed cases in wild birds (3), backyard (21) and commercial sector (1) distributed as follows: 13 in Córdoba, 4 in Buenos Aires, 2 in Río Negro, 2 in Santa Fe, 1 in Jujuy, 1 in Neuquén, 1 in San Luis and 1 in Salta.
