19-05-2025
EU and China ban chicken imports from Brazil after bird flu case
Brazil, the largest producer and exporter of poultry meat in the world, has confirmed its first outbreak of avian influenza (bird flu) on a commercial poultry farm, resulting in certain trade bans.
The country's Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa) confirmed the detection of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (IAHP) in a commercial poultry breeding farm in the state of Rio Grande do Sul last week.
The ministry said that this is the first outbreak of IAHP detected in a commercial poultry farming system in Brazil.
Brazil
Mapa said that containment and eradication measures of the outbreak provided for in the national contingency plan are underway.
This will 'aim not only to eradicate the disease, but also to maintain the sector's production capacity, guaranteeing supply and, thus, food security for the population'.
The ministry added that the Brazilian veterinary service has been trained and equipped to deal with this disease since the first decade of the 2000s.
In a bid to prevent the disease entering the Brazilian commercial poultry farming system, several actions have been adopted over the years.
These measures include monitoring wild birds; epidemiological surveillance in commercial and subsistence poultry farming; ongoing training of official and private veterinary services; health education and the implementation of surveillance activities at points of entry of animals and their products into Brazil.
'Such measures were crucial and proved to be effective and efficient in delaying the entry of the disease into Brazilian commercial poultry farming over the past almost 20 years,' Mapa said.
In order to comply with existing trade agreements signed with China and the EU, poultry exports from Brazil are now restricted.
Countries such as Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the Philippines have protocols which will see exports from the affected state banned.
Brazil's ministry of agriculture has advised the public that the bird flu is not transmitted by the consumption of poultry meat or eggs.
'The Brazilian and global population can rest assured that inspected products are safe, and there are no restrictions on their consumption.
'The risk of human infection by the avian influenza virus is low and, in most cases, occurs among handlers or professionals who have intense contact with infected birds (alive or dead),' it said.
