The Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture has announced the discovery of the first cases of avian flu in wild seabirds in Brazil, the world’s largest exporter of chicken meat.
“I want to tell the market, especially the chicken meat sector, that there is no risk of trade restrictions because they are wild birds,” Agriculture Minister Carlos Fávaro said in a video released on social networks on Monday.
The infected birds, three Cape swallows, were found on the southeast coast of Espírito Santo state, two of them on Wednesday and a third on Monday, the ministry said in a statement.
Laboratory analyzes “confirmed that it was the H5N1 subtype” of bird flu, the ministry said.
Depending on “the evolution of the epidemiological scenario, new sanitary measures may be taken” by the authorities “to prevent the spread (…) and protect the national poultry industry,” the note added.
Brazil is the world’s largest chicken meat exporter, with 35% of the market, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture for 2022.
Bird flu causes high mortality in wild birds and domestic birds such as ducks and chickens.
Thousands of birds have died or been culled in South America, hundreds of farms have been quarantined and some countries have suspended exports since last year due to the spread of the virus.
Transmission to humans is rare and usually occurs through close contact with infected birds.
Source: DN
