REUTERS
June 29, 2023 at 12:15 JST
Chickens walk inside a coop at a private poultry farming at a ranch in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil June 2, 2023. (Reuters photo)
SAO PAULO--Japan suspended purchases of poultry from a Brazilian state after an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) on a non-commercial farm, Brazil’s agriculture ministry and meat industry association ABPA said on Wednesday.
The decision comes a day after the southeastern state of Espirito Santo declared a bird flu outbreak among domesticated animals on a farm with ducks, mallards, geese and chickens, which was Brazil’s first case seen in birds that are not wild.
The lobby group ABPA questioned the halt by Japan, which it said does not currently import poultry from the state, adding that the decision “is not in line with the guidelines of the World Organization for Animal Health (WHOA).”
Brazil’s agriculture ministry said in a statement later on Wednesday that it questioned Japan’s government regarding its decision, given that the confirmation of the case does not change Brazil’s status before WHOA and the import ban “is not agreed to in the health protocol between both parties.”
Brazil, the world’s largest chicken exporter, first confirmed outbreaks among wild birds on May 15, and has since recorded 50 outbreaks of the disease in wild birds in seven states.
“It is worth remembering that industrial poultry farming in Brazil continues without any record of the disease,” ABPA said.
Japan was Brazil’s third largest poultry importer in 2022, according to ABPA.
Zoos hiding birds as avian flu spreads in North America
April 6, 2022
2.5 million birds culled in potentially worst avian flu season
December 11, 2020
Worst bird-flu season hits; more than 10 million chickens culled
January 10, 2023China’s chicken production continues to surge, reducing appetite for imports
August 17, 2020
Princesses host foreign envoys for traditional duck hunt event
December 18, 2019
Sparrows seek parental rights of great tit chicks at home in Tokyo
September 13, 2020
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
