June 21, 2004

 

Peru Reports Foot-and-mouth Outbreak

 

Peru has reported its first outbreak of the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease since 2000. There were 8 infected cattle, and 80 animals in contact with them have been slaughtered and more were being killed.

 

"It's been a fairly light outbreak, and now it is under control," Jose Ochoa of the National Service of Agrarian Health (SENASA) said.

Ochoa said the three establishments in Lurin, south of Lima, where the disease was detected, had been sealed off.

Foot-and-mouth disease affects cloven-hoofed animals. Although Peru does not export beef, it is keen to recover its foot-and-mouth free status because the virus can be transported, for example, with fruit and vegetables.

That could potentially affect Peru's bid for a free-trade treaty with the United States, which is free of the disease.

Ochoa said "more animals that were close (to those infected) are being slaughtered now." He said it was unclear how many would be killed, but it would be "many more." Some 800 other cattle had been in contact with those infected, he said.

"We believe that given the way we are handling it, this accident will be overcome. It won't affect Peru's status of having become foot-and-mouth-free," Ochoa said.

He noted that Britain had recovered its disease-free status after a devastating outbreak in 2001. Around 4 million animals were slaughtered in that incident.

When asked if the outbreak could harm Peru's bid to secure a free-trade treaty with the United States, Ochoa said, "If we return to our status of being foot-and-mouth free, no... But it definitely could affect it if the situation was out of control."

Peru is a big exporter of limes, mangoes, asparagus and other agricultural produce. It also exports live alpacas.

The June 11 outbreak - Peru's first in 3 years and 7 months - occurred in a place where cattle are brought from other parts of the country to be fattened.

The area is one of five departments considered at risk of the disease where livestock are vaccinated.

Peru's other 19 departments are foot-and-mouth free without vaccination.

The country is seeking the World Organization for Animal Health's (OIE) stamp of approval of southern Peru as an area completely free of the disease without vaccination and will be reviewed on that in October, Ochoa said.

In the wake of the outbreak, SENASA was controlling cattle movement to prevent the spread of the disease to central and southern areas and stepped up other checks.

Brazil on Thursday reported an outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease, but Ochoa said there was no link. "Our research shows it is most likely that the virus came in from the north (of Peru)," he said, referring to Piura, near the border with Ecuador.

That is another at-risk area where cattle are vaccinated under a $5 million-a-year national eradication program sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and in place since 1998.

In northern Peru there is contraband where Ecuadorian animals are passed off as Peruvian, he said.

Ochoa said Peru's neighbors Ecuador, Bolivia and Brazil all have foot-and-mouth disease in some areas. Chile and Colombia, however, are free of the disease. Ecuador and Colombia, like Peru, are negotiating a U.S. free-trade deal.