November 4, 2005

Brazil's Parana FMD results possible by next week
 

The Secretary of Agriculture from Brazil's Parana state said Thursday that results from FMD lab tests will be made available next week at the earliest, Dow Jones Newswires confirmed.

The Secretary of Agriculture said that tongue graft collections made on Oct 21-22 did not have enough mucous to conduct the tests properly and so results that were initially expected to be announced by this Friday are being postponed.

Nineteen cattle in the state have shown symptoms of the disease. They are now in solitary confinement.

FMD was confirmed on a farm in Eldorado, Mato Grosso do Sul on Oct 10. Since then, 11 additional properties within a 25-kilometre radius have been confirmed to have cattle with foot-and-mouth disease.

The Parana cattle under investigation were purchased from ranchers in Mato Grosso do Sul.

Nearly 50 countries have banned Brazilian beef exports on account of the FMD outbreak.