Reports that appeared Thursday, November 3, on various Brazilian web sites about the death of a rooster that displayed possible symptoms of Asian bird flu, in MarÀlia, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, induced the Brazilian Association of Chicken Breeders and Exporters (Abef) and the Brazilian Chicken Breeding Union (UBA) to issue a note to the press to calm consumers and caution against the risks of unconfirmed reports.
In the note the organizations emphasize the precautions taken by chicken breeding industries in Brazil and inform that "the conditions of biosecurity prevent the chicken flocks in these centers from having contact with migratory birds," which has been the most common source of infection in Europe.
"Brazil has never had a case of bird flu," the organizations state in the note. According to the organizations, "the National Poultry Sanitation Program, administered by the Ministry of Agriculture with the support of private enterprise, has been conducting various activities to extend even more the prevention of diseases that attack fowl." Among these activities, the text refers to controls in "Brazilian airports and ports."
"Speculations about health problems in fowl, associating them immediately with a possible case of bird flu, before any laboratory test, could lead to agitation on the part of consumers," says the note, which points out how much such "speculations could also provoke the closure of import markets" and cause losses and dismissals in the sector.
Agência Brasil