By Ana Mano
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian food processor BRF is confident local companies will be able to circumvent chicken trade bans in a matter of days as local authorities have so far been able to control a bird flu outbreak in the world’s largest chicken-exporting nation.
Speaking at an industry event in Sao Paulo on Thursday, BRF’s vice president for quality, Fabio Stumpf, said a combination of well-trained farm workers, strict biosecurity protocols and efficient state and federal farm agencies contributed to delaying the arrival of bird flu on Brazilian poultry farms.
Brazil’s first outbreak of highly pathogenic avian flu on a commercial chicken farm was confirmed on May 16, triggering regional and country trade embargoes, which hurt exporters and increased chicken supplies domestically in the short-term, reducing local prices.
The disease was first detected in the country on wild birds in 2023. Since then, the Brazilian government has processed over 4,000 samples and confirmed some 171 bird flu outbreaks, mainly among wild animals.
Addressing a panel, Stumpf said he had “no doubt” countries would open up to trade over the coming few days, as almost three weeks have passed after the only bird flu case was confirmed on a commercial farm in Montenegro, Rio Grande do Sul state.
Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro also said this week there were signs the outbreak had been controlled efficiently.
Still, there are 12 active investigations into potential new outbreaks, most of which are on backyard flocks or wild birds, which do not trigger trade restrictions, according to the ministry’s website.
(Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
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