Poultry sector reaches vaccination against bird flu with less production and consumption of eggs, but with increases in chicken meat | Economy | News

Three months after the confirmation of the first outbreak of avian influenza, the first stage of vaccination of birds against this virus begins, which from November 2022 to February 2023 affected 1,193,491 birds on farms in five provinces of the Sierra region, of which the majority are dedicated to the production of eggs.

According to the Phyto-Zoosanitary Regulation and Control Agency (Agrocalidad), to date 15 outbreaks of bird flu have been detected, with a total of 20 farms: 9 in Cotopaxi, 7 in Tungurahua, 2 in Bolívar and Pichincha and Azuay with a farm in each province.

From November 2022 to February of this year, 15 outbreaks of bird flu were detected in 5 provinces, which affected 1,193,491 birds.

The Agency informed this newspaper that currently the farms that were affected by the virus are still without birds and are in a process of cleaning, disinfection, sanitary vacuum and a possible repopulation, therefore, at the moment, these farms will not enter the process. of vaccination.

Those that are taken into account for this process that begins this Friday, March 3, are 35 farms that are located in the focal and perifocal zones of these sites.

“It has been verified that 35 farms comply with biosecurity measures, with an approximate of 757,818 birds in which the vaccine will be applied, these farms have been considered since they are the ones that have complied with the basic biosecurity measures required by the Agency ”, detailed Agrocalidad, which stated that as more producers comply with biosecurity measures, they will be included in the vaccination process.

Regarding the next stages of the process and how many more birds they plan to inoculate, Agrocalidad indicated that the decision will be made to expand vaccination to other areas according to epidemiological monitoring and risk analysis.

“So far, 35 farms have complied with what is established by the Agency. The validity of the vaccination will depend on the progress of coverage in the affected areas and the epidemiological follow-up carried out on the disease”, the Agency detailed.

How does the poultry sector get to this vaccination process?

The coordinator of the National Corporation of Poultry Farmers of Ecuador (Conave), Juan Francisco Jaramillo, assured that the birds affected from November last year to February 2023 are laying hens that represent 9% of the total population of layers in Ecuador. However, he clarified that broilers are not affected by the virus.

What Jaramillo said is reflected in the national production statistics provided by Conave, which show an increase of 27.71% and 16.96% in chicken production in January and February of this year, respectively, compared to the same year. period of 2022.

In January the sector produced 25.8 million chickens and in February 21.7 million. While in January 2022 there were 20.2 million chickens and in February of that year 18.5 million chickens.

The other side of the coin is shown by egg production, which decreased by 10.28% and 8.63% in January and February of this year compared to January and February 2022. According to figures from Conave, last January and February 560.9 million eggs were produced nationwide, while in January and February 2022 production reached 619.7 million eggs.

These variations are also reflected in the per capita consumption of chicken meat and eggs. Ecuadorians consumed more chicken meat in January and February 2023 than in the same period of 2022. In January consumption was 2.67 kg of chicken meat per month and in February 2.25 kg; an increase of 25.94% and 15.38% respectively.

Meanwhile, egg consumption also declined as well as production. In January Ecuadorians consumed 15.84 eggs per person and in February 14.93. In contrast, in January and February 2022 consumption was higher, standing at 17.89 eggs per person and 16.56 eggs per person, respectively.

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Given the figures, Jaramillo clarified that the decrease in the production of table eggs does not correspond to the effect of the current situation, that is, by the avian flu, but to the economic impact due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the strikes that the country has faced, which caused a decrease in the importation of genetic material.

“This means that production and consumption fell in a similar proportion. We do not observe an affectation to consumption due to the current situation, ”said the Conave spokesperson, who explained that the data presented are taken from his production estimation statistical system.

Meanwhile, regarding the expectations for the rest of 2023, Jaramillo revealed that the industry seeks to reach pre-pandemic (2019) production levels.

“Production depends on external factors such as the economic situation of families, political and social situations. This means that the sector recovers as the country’s economy develops,” he explained. (YO)