Two Avian influenza outbreaks detected in Colombia
Contenido disponible en: العربية (Arabic)Avian influenza continues hitting the poultry industry worldwide. Recently 2 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreaks […]
Avian influenza continues hitting the poultry industry worldwide. Recently 2 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreaks have been detected in Acandí-Chocó, Colombia, by the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA).
These outbreaks were detected in a population with a total of 175 birds, including backyard and wild birds. After evaluating the clinical signs and laboratory results, the detected strain corresponds to the H5 subtype of HPAI. Therefore, as a measure to control the spread of the disease, all birds were culled.
Despite the detection of the disease, the ICA gives a part of tranquility to the producers and consumers since the location of the outbreaks does not risk the national production or consumption of eggs and chicken meat in Colombia.
Also, Colombia is a self-declared country free from HPAI disease by the World Health Organization since 2011, and the notification does not affect or modify this health status.
The ICA indicated that in Acandí, there are no commercial poultry farms. Also, the municipality's poultry production is exclusively characterized by backyard birds raised in a single space and whose products are used solely for self-consumption.
The presence of the disease in Colombia is still under study. However, it has been hypothesized that the two outbreaks were a result of close interaction with migratory wild birds, which are usually healthy carriers of the Influenza virus.
A contingency plan to face the avian flu is active, and it has been conformed a care team that includes:
- Epidemiologists,
- Veterinarians, and
- Livestock technicians
That has the purpose of being in the local office in Acandí to control and eradicate the disease.
In the places identified as positive, quarantine measures were established to mitigate the risk of spreading the disease to other areas of the department of Chocó or the country.
With three work groups in the field, ICA officials have carried
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