The declaration of a health emergency in Argentina and Uruguay after the discovery of the first cases of bird flu raised the alert level in Latin America, given the advance of the disease that affects humans and other species of mammals.
Guatemala declared a state of emergency on Tuesday after confirming the presence of the H5N1 virus in pelicans and, a few hours later, authorities in Uruguay and Argentina declared a health emergency.
“The confirmation of the entry of the virus into the country makes us more alert, but it does not surprise us,” admitted the Secretary of Agriculture of Argentina, Juan José Bahillo.
A similar comment was made by the Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries of Uruguay, Fernando Mattos, who acknowledged that the first case detected and the arrival of the disease “is not a surprise.”
In Ecuador, the case of a nine-year-old girl apparently infected by having been in contact with a sick bird was reported.
Meanwhile, in Nicaragua, this Tuesday, the authorities announced to strengthen the epidemiological surveillance system of cases of bird flu detected in Central America in wild birds.
In Cuba, the alarms went off last week, when cases of bird flu were detected in the National Zoo of Havana, putting the enclosure in quarantine.
In Costa Rica, the first outbreak of avian influenza was registered on January 23 in pelicans in the province of Limón (Caribbean) and later other infections were identified in wild birds in that same province and in the city of Parrita, Puntarenas (Pacific). .
In El Salvador, the authorities announced on Wednesday “continuous preventive alert” and “permanent vigilance” against bird flu, although no cases have yet been registered.
Panama has maintained a health alert since December 24, after the confirmation of the first case of bird flu, with three cases registered since then, and the killing of more than 2,500 birds.
In Venezuela, the presence of bird flu in pelicans was detected, also in December, for which the authorities declared a state of health alert in five coastal states “for a period of 90 days”, which expires at the end of this month.
In Peru, the first cases were detected in pelicans at the end of November, passing days later to domestic birds, which led the Ministry of Health to issue an epidemiological alert. Since then, at least 55,000 birds have died from this virus, in addition to nearly 600 sea lions and one dolphin.
In Chile, more than 10,000 dead birds have been confirmed, presumably due to bird flu, cases originating throughout the territory, with the exception of the metropolitan regions -including the capital- in the center and La Araucanía and Los Ríos, in the south.
Avian influenza was first detected in 1996 and since then has spread among birds, both free and captive, mainly domestic.
The disease is classified into two subtypes, based on two proteins, and is considered lethal by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Source: TSF
