January 31, 2023, 5:30 AM
January 31, 2023, 5:30 AM
Before the outbreak ofand bird flu detected in two municipalities of Cochabamba Health authorities recommended purchasing poultry products registered by the National Agricultural Health Service (Senasag) and consuming well-cooked chicken meat.
“We recommend that meat vendors, as well as consumers, purchase products from slaughterhouses registered by Senasagsaid J.Avier Ernesto Suarez, General Director of Senasag.
He added that the institution carries out “quite demanding” inspection and control work with vets accredited and official that guarantee that the meat is completely safe.
“Is meat must be well cooked and selected, in addition, with the corresponding health care”, indicated the Secretary of Health of the Government of Cochabamba, Hannibal Cruz.
These statements were issued after last Saturday the Government confirmed outbreaks of influenza or bird flu H5N1 in the Cochabamba municipalities of He took out and Quillacollo.
The authorities, who agree that the virus lbequeathed to the country through contact with migratory birdsthey asked the population to remain calm, since it is rare for the disease to be transmitted to humans and, when this occurs, it is also very rare for it to become complicated.
“Between three to five days, it passes like a simple flu,” said Cruz, for whom the vaccines that the human being receives related to the disease give him “a certain degree of protection”.
In cases of human contagion in which H5N1 worsens, “it is a respiratory viral disease”, which is accompanied by “fever, cough, sore throat and any other respiratory manifestation that can lead to pneumonia. That is why its importance, because its lethality is high,” said the director of the Departmental Health Service (Sedes) of Santa Cruz, Carlos Hurtado.
The illness may be transmitted with contact with saliva, feces and other secretions of birds or with contaminated objects. People who work in sheds and poultry farms are vulnerable.
suarez dexplained that the sanitary measures to contain and eradicate the virus have already been implemented, which include the sacrifice of more than 160,000 birdss in the farms where it was detected, the establishment of containment zones, and the restriction of the movement of birds from the contagion zones to other areas of the department and to other departments.
“After an investigation, the presence of the virus in “other municipalities” of Cochabamba, “such as Independencia and Tolata,” was ruled out, he reported. “A search has also been made 10 kilometers around (of those farms), to verify the existence of any other locality that could have any suspicion of a disease compatible with the bird flu”, he narrowed.
The Santa Cruz Poultry Farmers Association (ADA) indicated through a statement that “avian influenza does not represent risks for the consumption of chicken meat, eggs or other poultry products by the population, as stated by the national health authorities”.
The organization assured that Santa Cruz it keeps avian influenza free, Therefore, producers make extreme efforts to maintain this sanitary status.
Sensag urged producers and owners of poultry farms to notify the institution of any suspicion compatible with avian influenza disease and to maximize its biosecurity measures and infrastructures in their establishments. Otherwise, it will mean sanctions.
