“Beni and La Paz declared free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination by the World Organization for Animal Health”

Vaccination cycle against foot-and-mouth disease. Photo: Senasag.

La Paz, May 17, 2023 (ABI). – The National Service of Agricultural Health and Food Safety (Senasag) will receive for Beni and the north of La Paz the certifications free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination at the 90th session of the World Organization for Animal Health (OMSA), which will take place held in Paris, France, from the 21st to the 25th of this month.

“We are traveling with Remmy Gonzales, Minister of Rural Development and Land, to the general session of the World Organization for Animal Health, next week we will receive the certificate from Beni and the North of La Paz as free of foot-and-mouth disease without vaccination,” he said. the executive director of Senasag, Javier Suárez.

He explained that after a technical and scientific analysis, the decision was reached to suspend vaccination against foot-and-mouth disease in Santa Cruz, a department that still maintains immunization, although “there is no evidence that the virus circulates in the country.”

“And this is how we are completing that transition stage from a country with vaccination to a country without vaccination, meeting the goals and objectives of the program that was created in 2001,” he said.

He highlighted that the Bolivian State invested more than $60 million in the eradication of foot-and-mouth disease, taking into account that the last outbreaks were registered in 2007, mainly in Santa Cruz.

The eradication of the disease allowed the country to achieve important objectives, one of which was the opening of new export markets for beef and bovine genetics, such as China, Russia and Brazil. In addition to the fact that sales to countries such as Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Cuba are maintained.

“The benefits of being able to eradicate this disease open the doors for us to be able to open many export markets, not only for meat but also for Bolivian genetics, which is highly required and highly recognized worldwide for the quality that is available in our country,” stressed.

On May 9, Suárez clarified that the decision to suspend the foot-and-mouth disease vaccine in the Santa Cruz region and in a part of Cochabamba is “purely technical and scientific.”

The Ministry of Rural Development and Land reported that, according to Senasag reports, Bolivia will suspend vaccination against foot-and-mouth disease at the end of the year, since it has overcome the disease.

MC/Mac