March 31, 2006

 

Brazil's Parana state finishes cattle cull

 

 

Parana, Brazil's eighth largest beef producer, finished putting down over 3,000 heads of cattle Wednesday (Mar 29) because of the detection of FMD on several properties.

 

International animal health standards set by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) require the sacrifice of animals with FMD, animals living in close proximity to animals with the disease, or animals that have tested positive for the virus but are considered healthy.

 

Parana cattle did not have full-blown FMD, but roughly a hundred bovines tested positive for the virus, meaning the cattle had come in contact with sick animals in the past and could transmit the virus to other animals in the future, according to Jose Naranja, an epidemiologist at the Pan-American Foot-and-Mouth Centre, or Panaftosa, located in Rio de Janeiro.

 

OIE requires that new animals be put on the ranches and tested within a six month period to see if the virus persists on the property.

 

If not, Parana would be allowed to return to Brazil's lucrative beef export market.

 

"If all goes well, Parana will be able to start exporting again by September at the earliest, but that all depends on individual countries," said Fabiano Tito Rosa, a livestock analyst at Scot Consultoria.

 

"Some countries will keep their bans on Parana beef for a year," Rosa said.

 

The Parana cattle that tested positive for the foot-and-mouth virus had come in contact with infected animals from Mato Grosso do Sul, home to the country's largest beef herd, at a farm expo in Londrina, Parana in late 2005.

 

An outbreak of FMD was later discovered in Mato Grosso do Sul in October.

 

Some 30,000 animals had been killed and buried on over two dozen Mato Grosso do Sul properties in January to prevent the spreading of the disease.

 

Brazil has the world's largest cattle herd, at over 200 million bovines, and is the world's largest beef exporter by volume.

 

Fifty-two countries have either full or partial bans on Brazilian beef because of FMD in Parana and Mato Grosso do Sul.

 

Mato Grosso do Sul should return to export markets by July at the earliest.