Brazil to declare itself free of bird flu on commercial farms this Wednesday

The Brazilian government is expected to send a statement to the World Organization for Animal Health (WHO) on Wednesday (18) declaring itself free of avian flu (H5N1). The measure can be taken after the 28-day sanitary vacuum period , that is, when there are no new cases of the disease on commercial farms.

The deadline began to be counted from the disinfection of the Montenegro (RS) breeding facility, where the first outbreak of the disease was recorded in commercial birds , on May 15.

The self-declaration process, as was the notification of the outbreak, is mandatory. Recognition of the declaration by the WHO and the resumption of the country's health status tends to be immediate.

Despite this, the reestablishment of chicken meat exports to countries that suspended purchases of Brazilian protein will depend on the approval of the health authority of each importing country.

Since the outbreak was detected in Montenegro, imports of the Brazilian product have been suspended in 21 destinations: China, European Union, Iraq, South Korea, Chile, Philippines, South Africa, Peru, Albania, Canada, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Malaysia, Mauritania, Argentina, Timor-Leste, Morocco, India, Sri Lanka, North Macedonia and Pakistan.

Another 19 countries maintain the suspension of purchases of chicken meat produced in Rio Grande do Sul: Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Kuwait, United Kingdom, Oman, Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Angola, Turkey, Bahrain, Cuba, Montenegro, Namibia, Kazakhstan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tajikistan and Ukraine.

The United Arab Emirates, Japan, Qatar and Jordan have stopped importing only production from the municipality of Montenegro.

On Tuesday (17), Japan informed Brazil that it had temporarily suspended imports of poultry meat from the municipalities of Santo Antônio da Barra (GO) and Campinápolis (MT), as well as fertile eggs and one-day-old chicks from the states of Goiás and Mato Grosso, after confirmation of outbreaks of avian flu in subsistence poultry in the aforementioned municipalities.

Due to a case of bird flu, chicken meat exports fell 12.9% in May

With the suspensions, Brazilian chicken meat exports, including fresh and processed products, ended the month of May with a drop of 12.9% compared to the same month last year, according to the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA), totaling 393.4 thousand tons.

Among the markets that most influenced the export result were China, which imported 35.8 thousand tons (-28% compared to the same period of the previous year), South Africa, with 25.5 thousand tons (-20.5%) and Mexico, with 16.6 thousand tons exported (-18.8%).

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa), since 2022, 4,200 investigations have been carried out into suspected cases of avian respiratory and nervous syndrome, one of the symptoms of avian flu and Newcastle disease. Of these, samples were collected for laboratory diagnosis in 1,171 cases.

To date, 174 tests have resulted positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), of which 168 were in wild birds, five in subsistence birds, and one in a commercial bird, which corresponds to the Montenegro outbreak. There was also a diagnosis of Newcastle disease in July last year.