Brazil’s Parana declares animal health emergency due to bird flu cases in wild birds

Reuters

SAO PAULO, July 25 (Reuters) – The Brazilian state of Parana, the country’s biggest poultry producer, said on Tuesday it has declared an animal health emergency due to the detection of avian flu cases in wild birds.

The move comes after the country’s agriculture ministry directed the states to take such a measure, Parana’s government said in a statement.

It added the measure will last 180 days.

So far, Parana has detected seven cases of the disease in migratory wild birds, authorities said.

Confirmation of infection by the avian influenza virus in wild birds does not change the sanitary status of the state or Brazil’s, authorities said.

Under rules from the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), Brazil’s national sanitary status remains free of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza because no cases have been detected on commercial farms, according to authorities.

“It is important to make it clear that this is a protective measure. With this… we can act much more quickly, getting rid of some bureaucratic barriers in case avian flu is detected,” Parana’s Secretary of Agriculture and Supply Norberto Ortigara said in the statement.

Brazil, the world’s largest chicken exporter, first confirmed outbreaks among wild birds on May 15, and has since recorded at least 67 outbreaks of the disease in wild birds in multiple states.

Reporting by Carolina Pulice and Peter Frontini; Editing by Chris Reese, Ana Mano and Jonathan Oatis