Brazil’s agriculture ministry declared a nationwide “zoological emergency” on Monday evening after new cases of bird flu were discovered in wild birds. Brazil is the world’s largest poultry exporter.
The move “aims to prevent access to poultry production for subsistence and commercial purposes, and to protect wild fauna and flora and human health,” the agriculture ministry said on Tuesday. Thanks to this law, its powers are strengthened with the aim of speeding up administrative processes and can quickly release the necessary resources to fight the epidemic. The animal health emergency will be in effect for 180 days, a time to prevent the spread of the virus. The existing ban on poultry, competitions and exhibitions has also been extended indefinitely.
The orders follow three new cases of bird flu detected on Monday, bringing the total number of cases recorded since mid-May to eight, when the country is yet to recover from the disease. All about wild birds. The majority are located in the state of Espirito Santo in the eastern part of the country.
Isolated Farms
According to 2022 statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of chicken meat, accounting for 35% of the market. Avian influenza causes high mortality in wild birds and poultry such as ducks and chickens.
Thousands of birds have died or been destroyed, hundreds of farms have been quarantined and in some cases exports canceled since the virus spread in South America last year. Transmission to humans is rare and usually occurs through close contact with infected birds.
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