Mexico City, Mexico — The Government of Mexico has issued an advisory after detecting Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza or the Avian Influenza in three of the country’s states.
According to The National Service for Food Health, Safety and Quality (Senasica), the virus was located on 44 farms between the states of Coahuila, Guanajuato and Puebla after the inspection of around 65 percent of farms. The infected farms remain in quarantine to minimize the spread risk. More than 730,000 birds have been euthanized.
“Derived from the epidemiological tracking carried out by Senasica specialist technicians in the region, so far they have detected that of the 242 investigated poultry production units, 44 are infected and are under quarantine measures in order to minimize the risk that the virus spread to other farms,” Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria (Senasica) reported in a statement.
Government officials are asking people in Baja California, where the influenza has not yet been found, to reinforce biosecurity measures in modern and semi technified poultry farms as well as in backyard pens.
Juan Manuel Martinez Núñez, head of Senasica in Baja California, says the call also extends to people who own and market domestic birds (parakeets, cockatoos, pigeons, etc.), combat birds (roosters) since it can severely affect the reproduction and raising of birds as well as the commercialization of poultry products and their derivatives.
Martinez says that in addition to reinforcing biosecurity measures, the entry of animals from affected countries should also be prevented, as is the case of the United States, where the disease is already present in more than two dozen states.