Brazil, the world’s top chicken exporter, has for the first time confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) cases, but only in wild birds, the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock said on Monday.
Two cases were detected in wild birds and should not trigger a ban on imports of Brazilian poultry products as per guidelines from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), the Brazilian government said.
The avian influenza virus can kill entire flocks of birds and cause losses for the farming sector. Brazil’s chicken exports rose 27 percent last year to US$9.76 billion, as other countries reeled from a global outbreak of the virus, yet the South American country had never registered a case until now.
Photo: AFP
The Brazilian government confirmed the detection of the H5N1 subtype of the influenza virus in two marine birds, of the Thalasseus acuflavidus species, on the coast of the southeastern state of Espirito Santo.
Brazil’s main poultry-producing states are in the far south and center-west. However, Espirito Santo is Brazil’s third-largest egg producing state, meat lobby ABPA said. It does not export eggs, but sells them in the domestic market.
Epidemiological surveillance services are to be intensified to detect potential cases in wild and commercial animals in the area close to where the cases were confirmed, a government source said.
The ministry said that because the cases were detected in wild animals, Brazil’s status “as a country free of HPAI” was not affected.
Miguel Gularte, CEO of Brazil-based BRF, the world’s largest chicken exporting company, told a news conference he was not surprised by the case of highly pathogenic avian influenza, adding that the company was prepared for any scenario.
He reiterated WOAH’s recommendations that no members of that organization would impose import bans, because of cases detected in wild animals.
He added that the company relies on Brazil’s “robust” animal health services to prevent and contain any potential threats to industrial poultry farms.
The main importers of Brazil’s chicken products last month included China, Japan, South Africa and Saudi Arabia.
China has banned imports of poultry from nearly 40 US states due to outbreaks of bird flu on commercial poultry farms.
Argentina suspended its poultry exports in late February after recording the first case of bird flu in its poultry industry in southern Rio Negro province, but resumed exports from bird flu free areas in late March.
A record number of chicken, turkeys and other birds have died in outbreaks in the US, Europe and Britain, and the virus is spreading in South America, Africa and Asia.
Losses of poultry flocks have contributed to record-high prices for eggs and turkey meat in some places.
While humans can contract H5N1, cases remain very rare, and global health officials have said the risk to humans is low.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number