By Alexandra Valencia
QUITOFeb 1 – The Government of Ecuador plans to vaccinate more than two million birds against bird flu in affected areas of the center of the country, the Minister of Agriculture said on Wednesday, in an attempt to control the outbreak and reduce the mortality rate on farms threatened by the disease.
The South American nation declared an animal health emergency in its territory at the end of November due to the first infections on a farm in the Andean province of Cotopaxi, and at the moment outbreaks are registered in three other provinces.
The bird vaccination process will start in the next two months in a first phase and the Andean country will import four million doses through a consortium made up of companies from Ecuador and Mexico, said the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Bernardo Manzano, to journalists.
About 1.2 million birds have been infected with the virus and have been slaughtered in the four provinces of the country, according to official data.
“The vaccine, along with biosecurity and control measures, will help prevent the spread of the disease in the country,” Manzano said.
Ecuador reported in January its first case of human transmission of bird flu in a minor, who probably would have been infected by direct contact with backyard birds carrying the virus in the province of Bolívar.
Vaccination does not prevent contagion to other farms in risk areas, but it does reduce the mortality rate, said the director of the Phytosanitary and Animal Health Regulation and Control Agency (Agrocalidad), Patricio Almeida.
“The vaccine is biologically safe and does not constitute a risk to humans,” Almeida explained to reporters. “It decreases the mortality rate from 80% to 40%, however, it does not prevent contagion to other farms.”
Ecuador produces 263 million chickens per year, which represent some 495,000 tons of meat and 4,600 million table eggs.
The authorities assured that the supply of chicken meat and eggs was assured in the South American nation.
