By Artur Piva
In Ubatuba, north coast of São Paulo, a wild bird was found with the highly pathogenic avian influenza.
The Ministry of Agriculture (MAPA) confirmed the case on Monday 5.
However, there is no record of the disease in commercial farms in Brazil.
This is the first record of avian influenza in the state.
The bird is a Thalasseus maximus (Royal Tern).
On the same date, the Map also confirmed a sick bird of the same species in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro – the seventh outbreak in Rio de Janeiro.
Besides São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the MAPA confirmed cases of the highly pathogenic disease in Rio Grande do Sul and Espírito Santo – the first state with a record of the disease in the country.
With the two new confirmations, Brazil’s disease outbreaks have risen to 24, all in wild birds.
Espírito Santo concentrates the highest number: 17.
Rio de Janeiro (7) comes in the sequence, followed by Rio Grande do Sul and São Paulo, with one each.
SÃO PAULO AND THE AVIAN FLU
The state is the largest producer of chicken eggs in the country.
Around 27% of the entire national production of this food happens in São Paulo farms.
Besides, the state is fourth in the national ranking of chicken slaughter.
The sick bird, however, was far away from the production areas in the state’s countryside.
Because it is highly contagious among birds, registering a case leads to the preventive slaughter of other birds that had contact with the contaminated animal.
HUMANS AND THE AVIAN FLU
The ingestion of meat and eggs does not transmit the disease to humans.
Humans acquire avian influenza through contact with infected birds or their excrement.
For this reason, human infection usually occurs in those who handle poultry without proper care – and contamination is rare.
Still, it is a cause for concern because half of the sick die.
With information from Revista Oeste
News Brazil, English news Brazil, avian influenza
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