On 17 July 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of Brazil – the world’s leading exporter of chicken, accounting for 40% of global production – announced a temporary ban on the export of poultry meat to 44 countries, due to an outbreak of Newcastle disease. (1)
1) Newcastle disease
Newcastle disease, also known as ‘avian pseudoplague’, is caused by viruses of the species avian paramyxovirus (APMV). First identified in 1926, the disease has spread throughout the world, with at least four pandemics with very serious economic and veterinary outcomes.
The virus affects numerous species of birds – domestic and wild – and its clinical manifestations vary depending on the species and viral strains involved. Respiratory symptoms are often followed by nervous manifestations, diarrhea and cranial edema, with often lethal effects.
The effects on humans of Newcastle disease – like those of avian influenza (2) – have been described in sporadic cases of conjunctivitis, following direct contact with high viral loads. (3)
2) Newcastle disease in poultry, the outbreak in Brazil
About 7.000 chickens, equal to half of the animals present on a farm located in the municipality of Anta Gorda – in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the third largest poultry producer in the Brazilian federation – have died due to the infection recorded in recent days.
The diagnosis of the infection by viruses of the species avian paramyxovirus of serotype (APMV-1) was confirmed by the Federal Agricultural Defense Laboratory of São Paulo, recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO, or WHO) as an international reference laboratory.
The latest cases of Newcastle disease confirmed in Brazil date back to 2006, in Rio Grande do Sul itself as well as in the states of Amazonas and Mato Grosso.
3) Risk management
The Brazilian minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Carlos Favaro declared that he had immediately ordered the quarantine of the poultry farm, in addition to the culling of the other birds present there.
‘A complementary investigation will also be conducted within a 10 kilometer radius around the outbreak area, together with other necessary measures based on the epidemiological assessment‘ (MAPA, Ministério da Agricultura e Pecuária, 17.7.24).
4) Brazil, ban on exports of poultry meat
The government of Rio de Janeiro, in addition to the notification of the Newcastle disease outbreak, announced the suspension of poultry exports to 44 countries including China, Argentina, the member states of the European Union, Japan and Saudi Arabia.
Temporary export restrictions could affect ‘in the worst case scenario’, according to ABPA (Associação Brasileira de Proteína Animal), up to 60.000 tonnes of poultry. Brazil produces 1,2 million tonnes and exports an average of 430.000 tonnes of poultry products per month. (4)
Dario Dongo
Footnotes
(1) Map confirms focus of Newcastle in Rio Grande do Sul. MAPA (Ministério da Agricultura e Pecuária), Brazil. 17.7.24 https://tinyurl.com/3hz35kay
(2) Dario Dongo, Andrea Adelmo Della Penna. Bird flu, the European Union orders vaccines. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade).
(3) Newcastle disease. IZSVe (Istituto Zooprophylattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, EU reference laboratory – WOAH – FAO for avian influenza and Newcastle disease) https://tinyurl.com/fj7zdzed
(4) Impacts of an isolated case of Newcastle Disease on Exports should not be relevant. ABPA (Associação Brasileira de Proteína Animal). 19.7.24 https://tinyurl.com/mn95ypu
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
