September 27, 2004

Brazil Agricultural Ministry Quarantines 11 Properties Over Foot-and-Mouth

Eleven properties in the municipality of Careiro da Varzea in Amazonas state have been quarantined in an effort to limit the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, the Agricultural Ministry said in a statement Thursday.
 
In early September, the ministry confirmed that four head of cattle tested positive for foot-and-mouth disease in the municipality of Careiro da Varzea, in the eastern region of Amazonas state located in the Amazon basin.
 
The government quarantine will remain in effect until the disease in eradicated, the ministry said.
 
The government is also collecting blood samples from cattle on the 1,000 farms in the municipality.
 
"We are taking all of the necessary steps to eradicate the disease," said Luiz Castro de Andrade Neto, the secretary of agricultural production for the state of Amazonas.
 
Last week, the Ministry set up river and road blocks in an effort to keep animals and animal products from being transported from Amazonas.
 
As a result of the foot-and mouth outbreak, Russia announced last week that it would ban all Brazilian meat imports. Brazil will lose $4 million a day from the ban, officials estimate.
 
For the second time this year, Russia has prohibited Brazilian meat imports. An embargo was imposed in June after a similar foot-and-mouth outbreak in a remote part of the Amazon state of Para. Russia lifted that ban in August after Brazil agreed to export no meat from Para or the neighboring state of Mato Grosso for 12 months.
 
Brazil has the world's largest commercial cattle herd.