The government has tightened controls to ensure that bird flu does not reach productive points

After the detection of the first case of bird flu in a wild bird in Argentina, the authorities of the Ministry of Economic Development of Jujuy announced that it will deepen controls and surveillance measures so that the disease does not reach productive points. At the same time, it was indicated that the government will develop extensive work already developed with the sector regarding early warning measures that generate peace of mind.

In this sense, the authorities have indicated that for more than four months they have been working within a round table made up of national organizations such as the Senasawith measures that had even been intensified after the detection of cases in Bolivia, given the border situation.

For this reason, after the detection of this first case in Jujuy, the health emergency was declared quickly. As they indicated, the case was confirmed by the Health and Agrifood Quality Service (Senasa) in a wild migratory bird, of the species Huallata or Andean Goose, which was found in said province.

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In this regard, the Secretary for Productive Development of Jujuy, Patricia Riosindicated that “it was not surprising” but “alert to intensify the works” in progress, and noted that in “Pozuelos a radius of 10 kilometers has been drawn in which more exhaustive control tasks will be carried out”.

“In general, every producer knows how their animals behave, so we urge those with farm birds to be alert if they find one dead or if it shows some congestion or walks differently,” concluded Ríos about the preventive measures to be taken. taken.

In addition, with the aim of expanding and reaching other areas, the table formed has also integrated producers in the sector at the local level, in particular poultry establishments, of which there are three in the province of Jujuy, betting on an early warning system as the main form of prevention, since it is a disease transmitted by wild and migratory birds.

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The authorities require that in the event of detection of poultry and/or wild birds showing nervous, respiratory or digestive clinical signs; decreased egg production; reduction in water and/or food consumption; or the discovery of dead birds, progress is being made in reporting them.

The situation report can be made through the “Senasa Notifications” application, available in the Play Store. Also by e-mail [email protected] or on the argentina.gob.ar/senasa website in the “Notify Senasa” section.

Avian influenza or influenza is an infectious disease that mainly affects birds and is caused by a virus from the Orthomyxoviridae family. Some avian influenza virus subtypes are highly pathogenic, primarily due to type A subtypes (H5 and H7), which cause severe disease in birds that can spread rapidly, producing high mortality rates in different species of birds, they say from the WHO. .

Since 2003, this bird flu virus and others have spread from Asia to Europe and Africa. In the Americas, this virus was first identified in domestic and wild birds in December 2014, in the United States.

“The disease is not transmitted to humans through the consumption of poultry meat and its by-products. Therefore, there is no danger in the consumption of these foods,” said the Argentine Ministry of Health.

In the Americas, 11 countries have reported outbreaks of avian influenza in domestic or wild birds, including Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Bolivia and Venezuela. The last to join was Bolivia, in addition to a case in Argentina and another in Uruguay.

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