ASUNCION, May 24 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Paraguayan authorities are strengthening sanitary barriers to both contain the spread of avian flu, and protect industrial poultry breeding from catching it, since three outbreaks of that disease have been reported, in addition to forecasts of others in the country.
Poultry farmers warned due to the spreading of bird flu is too fast; thus, they expect outbreaks to be increased in the coming hours.
“We implemented new control and surveillance measures to prevent the spread of the disease as monitoring the entry of migratory birds since even pigeons and other regional species could have been vectors of the outbreaks,” pointed at a press conference, Carlos Ramirez, the Epidemiology director of the National Animal Health and Quality Service (SENACSA).
Such a statement was in response to the outbreaks detected in home-breeding farms in Boqueron department, in the western Chaco region.
The expert deployed eight SENACSA’s brigades with 24 technicians in 15 vehicles for epidemiological surveillance in the areas of Mariscal Estigarribia, Neuland and Filadelfia colonies, in the western Chaco, where the first three bird flu outbreaks were recorded.
“The entity immediately activated the sanitary measures required for the situation, as soon as the first cases were confirmed,” Ramirez added.
According to the specialist, “the avian flu cases in Chaco do not affect the sanitary status, nor the domestic and overseas trade of poultry products and by-products.”
A SENACSA resolution issued on May 21, past Sunday, established a temporary ban on the movement and sale of each poultry product, including fertile eggs in the Boqueron department. This is a policy within the framework of the sanitary emergency due to the virus in Chaco.
Paraguayan specialists on Monday reported the detection of the third outbreak of avian flu
in that area, after the first two outbreaks on Saturday, according to the Ultimas Noticias journal.
The authorities reinforced biosecurity measures in chicken, turkey and duck farms ahead of the third outbreak. Meanwhile, technicians and workers are trying to guarantee the sanitary status at farms in the Filadelfia territory, from where the disease is spreading to other Chaco areas, in order to preserve the international markets for this meat.
Paraguay recorded on May 20, the first two outbreaks of avian flu outbreaks counting 104 cases among backyard poultry, of which 28 were found dead, in Mariscal Estigarribia and Neuland localities in Boqueron department.
Since December 2014, the United States, Canada, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay have reported avian flu cases. — NNN-PRENSA LATINA
