Today begins the Mandatory vaccination against bird flu throughout Uruguay, with the distribution of the doses purchased by the government to try to prevent the spread of the virus in the country, as well as an outbreak within the productive circuit that entails millions in losses for the poultry sector and the entire national economy.
He Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP) begins today to distribute the first doses of the vaccine against Avian Influenza that will be applied within the framework of the mandatory inoculation campaign. Delivery will be made to accredited veterinarians in order to begin immunization in hatcheries, as they have the longest production cycle and are most vulnerable to the effects of an outbreak.
This first stage consists of delivery of 900 thousand dosesand then the vaccination will start for the rest of the target population, which are breeding birds and laying hens.
The initial delivery will be at 2:00 p.m. General Directorate of Livestock Services (DGSG) of the MGAP, located on route 8, km 17, in front of zonamerica.
Vaccination, a light at the end of the tunnel
For the MGAP, compulsory vaccination stands as the path with the greatest chance of success in the crusade against the spread of bird flu in the country, where they have already been detected. 10 outbreaks of the virusalthough, so far, only in wild and backyard birds, minimizing economic losses for the poultry sector.
In this sense, the ministry acquired 10 million doses in laboratories of France and Mexico, taking charge of the cost that, in total —considering the purchase of vaccines for an amount close to 400 thousand dollars, plus the costs related to investments for the improvement of biosafety conditions—, supposes a budget of 4 million dollars allocated to the campaign against Avian Influenza.
Starting today, the entire target bird population is expected to be vaccinated with a starter dose over a period of between 20 days and a month. Adult animals and all those that are coming out of the incubators will be vaccinated.
The last outbreak registered in the country was on April 18, with 50 infected birds in Montevideo.
Source: Ambito
