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SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry today declared a state of animal health emergency in the country’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul after a case of Newcastle disease was found at a poultry farm.
On one small farm where the disease was detected, about 7,000 birds, half the flock, died, and authorities are struggling to control the outbreak.
The last confirmed case of Newcastle virus in Brazil occurred in 2006 in subsistence poultry in the states of Amazonas, Mato Grosso and Rio Grande do Sul, according to the country’s agriculture ministry. Subsistence poultry is raised to meet household food needs and is not traded.
Newcastle disease is a viral disease that affects both domestic and wild birds, causing respiratory problems and sometimes death. It must be reported under World Organisation for Animal Health guidelines.
Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro said the Newcastle disease outbreak could trigger a trade ban.
Saudi Arabia has suspended poultry imports from Rio Grande do Sul state, while Japan will limit poultry imports to a 50-kilometer (31-mile) radius of the outbreak, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note to clients on Thursday.
The Agriculture Department did not respond to a request for comment on the potential trade ban.
Meat lobby group ABPA declined to comment on whether a ban would be implemented ahead of a news conference on Friday afternoon.
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