Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture, Roberto Rodrigues, has announced the creation of a commission to monitor, day by day, action to combat foot and mouth disease in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
The announcement follows the discovery at the beginning of the week of the disease on a farm in the municipality of Eldorado.
After the presence of the disease was confirmed by laboratory tests, a total of 582 animals were sacrificed and "all the necessary measures to isolate the area were taken with efficiency and in accordance with international norms," reported Rodrigues.
He also said that Brazilian authorities have contacted concerned international organizations and are reporting to them regularly on the steps taken to contain the disease.
But, with the announcement of the confirmed presence of the disease, the 25 members of the European Union, South Africa, Israel and Russia slapped an immediate embargo on Brazilian beef.
In the case of Russia, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will be there next Tuesday on a previously scheduled trip and will explain the situation to them, letting them know that all the necessary measures to halt the spread of the disease have been put in place.
ABr
