August 1, 2006

Brazilian town may be declared free of Newcastle in September

The Brazilian town of Vila Real in Rio Grande do Sul state will only be declared free of Newcastle, a contagious fowl disease, in September if further lab tests do not find more evidence of the virus, local business daily Valor Economica reported Monday (Jul 31).

Roughly 50 healthy baby chickens were put on the single property this weekend where an outbreak of Newcastle was confirmed on Jul 4. Tests will be made on those birds in seven weeks.

Sixteen chickens died of the disease. Unlike the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, Newcastle disease is not a public health risk.

The Secretary of Agriculture of Rio Grande do Sul said lab tests from chickens within a 3-kilometre radius of the property will be made available this week.

Thirty-eight countries have either fully or partially banned chicken exports from Rio Grande do Sul state, one of Brazil's main chicken exporters. The ban is unlikely to have a major impact because most bans were by nations that rarely import Brazilian chicken, such as China, or focused the ban on the region near Vila Real rather than the entire state.

Brazil is the world's leading chicken exporter.