At a press conference, the Secretary of Agriculture, Juan José Bahilo, sought to calm the poultry sector and the population in general: “Given the detection of positives weeks ago in Bolivia, we had reinforced controls in Jujuy and Salta. This detected sample was sent on Monday and tested positive yesterday. It is the third sample that they have sent us, the other two had been negative,” explained the official.
At the same time, the head of the agricultural portfolio was clear in explaining that eating chicken meat and eggs does not pose any type of danger to consumers: “the virus is not transmitted by the consumption of poultry meat, nor by the consumption of eggs . The products should be consumed normally. Only improper handling can cause some contagion in humans, but of an exceptional nature. We are working to prevent greater evils, such as entering poultry production plants. These have security measures so that nothing enters. It doesn’t mean we slack off. We want to bring peace of mind to producers and the community in general”.
In parallel, the fact that also occupies and worries the Government -and poultry businessmen- is that this Wednesday the first case of influenza was also confirmed in the town of Maldonado, in Uruguay, also in a wild bird. This is dangerous for Argentina due to its proximity to the province of Entre Ríos, where national poultry production is concentrated, a key activity in terms of the economy, exports and domestic consumption.
One point in Argentina’s favor is that the poultry business, mainly the production of broiler chickens, is highly technical and the companies that work in the sector follow very strict biosafety standards.. In this context, SENASA will deepen controls in each of the establishments, but the truth is that the modality of raising chickens in technical sheds would not allow contagion with wild birds, which today could be the transmitters of the disease.
Source: Ambito
