Brazil Confirms Bird Flu on Poultry Farm, Takes Action

Post by : Layla Badr

Brazil, the biggest chicken exporter in the world, has confirmed its first case of bird flu on a commercial chicken farm. The country’s Agriculture Ministry shared this news on Friday. The case was found in the city of Montenegro, which is in the southernmost state of Brazil called Rio Grande do Sul.

This is a big deal because Brazil sells chicken to about 150 countries and earns around $10 billion from it. That’s about 35% of all the chicken meat traded around the world. Most of the chicken comes from two major companies—BRF and JBS SA.

The Brazilian pork and poultry group, called ABPA, said that all important steps were taken right away to control the problem. They also said that the situation is now under control and being carefully watched by government officials.

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The Agriculture Ministry explained that they are doing everything possible to stop the bird flu from spreading. They’ve already informed the World Organization for Animal Health and also notified Brazil’s trading partners and anyone else who needs to know.

Brazil had its first cases of bird flu in wild birds back in May 2023. These cases were found in at least seven different states. In June of that year, Japan stopped buying poultry from the state of Espirito Santo after bird flu was found on a non-commercial farm there.

Even though bird flu is serious, the ministry made it clear that eating chicken meat or eggs is still safe. The disease does not spread through food. The chance of people getting infected is very low. It mostly affects people who work closely with sick birds.

The government said that the Brazilian veterinary service has been trained to handle diseases like bird flu since the early 2000s.

They are also keeping a close watch on wild birds, checking farms regularly, and giving ongoing training to animal health workers.