Brazil: Rio de Janeiro state prepares contingency plan against avian flu
The government of Rio de Janeiro is drawing up a contingency plan to deal with the avian flu, H5N1.
The first case of the disease was registered in the city of São João da Barra in the state’s countryside.
People who had contact with the infected bird were monitored and underwent tests with negative results, confirming that they were not infected.
The disease is transmitted from animals to people.
The contingency plan designed by the State Secretary of Agriculture and the State Secretary of Health foresees, for example, the creation of a direct access channel with producing areas so that emergency measures can be taken promptly in case of the detection of H5N1 cases.
Creating a barrier around sites with supposedly contaminated birds is also foreseen.
The plan has a broad scope, valid for wild animals and exotic and commercially produced poultry.
The first cases of bird flu were recorded last week in Espírito Santo, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, which declared a zoo-sanitary emergency in the country because of these records.
With information from Jovem Pan
News Brazil, English news Brazil, Rio de Janeiro health, avian influenza
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