These are five Black Neck swans at Estación Tapia, Canelones. The Ministry confirmed that there is circulation of the virus in the country and concern is growing.
He Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP) confirmed a new outbreak of bird fluthis time in a population of Black-necked swans in the town of tapia station, in cannelloni, the department with the largest poultry production. This is the fourth outbreak in a month in Uruguay.
A few days after the death of 10 chickens was confirmed on a farm in The Monarch, Montevideobecause of the Avian Influenza H5N1, the MGAP reported finding five dead swans in a total population of 16 wild birds. Faced with this, the General Directorate of Livestock Services carried out the corresponding epidemiological studies, and confirmed the presence of the virus that has the entire poultry sector in the country in suspense, as well as the agro-export complex in general.
“This new case confirms that the virus is circulating and that is why the MGAP and the Ministry of Environment They call for extreme care and take the indicated measures to prevent the spread of outbreaks,” said the portfolio led by fernando mattos through a statement.
It should be noted that, up to now, the pattern of spread of bird flu corresponds to the movements of migratory birds, while hens, chickens and backyard birds have not presented important viral outbreaks.
The path of bird flu in the country
The new outbreak in Canelones is the fourth detected in a month, since the first case was known, also in a Black-necked swan, in the area of Garzon Lagoon, between rock and Maldonado. Although the virus was confined to the local wild bird population for a time, the death of 70 chickens and other backyard birds in San Gregorio del Polanco, Tacuarembóset off the alarms against the possibility that the virus had entered the production system.
With the application of protocols corresponding measures and the cooperation between the MGAP, the departmental authorities and the producers, it was possible to contain the spread, and no more cases were known until the detection of the 10 dead chickens in Montevideo. Likewise, there was a false alarm after 3,000 chickens died on a farm in Chazimo, Florida.
The focus of Canelones, in addition to being the fourth, realizes that the virus is already present in several departmentsso the concern for contagion at the heart of the poultry production system.
Considering that the sanitary culling protocol indicates that “if there is a sick bird in a shed of thousands, the thousands that are in contact must be eliminated”, the losses for producers and for Uruguay —which saw the possibility of exporting poultry meat cut short to China when the negotiations for this new market were just opening—they would be immense if the virus continues to advance, as the MGAP insists on remembering.
Source: Ambito
