Avian flu, also called “highly pathogenic avian influenza”, is already a reality in our country. Until now, the detected cases affect domestic hatcheries; for example, of chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys in Salta, Jujuy, Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Córdoba, San Luis, Río Negro and Neuquén. Northern, central and southern provinces. It would be logical for cases to be reported in other districts in the coming days.
The virus is highly transmissible between migratory wild birds. Let’s say that it is very easy to spread from one bird to another, especially if they are of the same species. Thus it reaches the poultry. What has been registered in our country, so far does not affect commercial hatcheries.
This virus is not transmitted from person to person or by eating cooked poultry or eggs. But if the amount of virus in the environment is very high, an infection can occur from a bird to a human. Therefore, people must avoid contact with infected animals or places with a high viral load, because they are opportunities for this to happen.
For some decades, different countries, in different regions, have periodically reported outbreaks of avian influenza. But now the virus has spread to almost the entire world and infections have been reported in several species of mammals, so it is speculated that the chances of infected birds and humans coming into contact would have increased and an ideal breeding ground would have been produced. for a fatal genetic jump in the pathogen. In more ways than one, the discussion regarding the origin of the recent coronavirus pandemic beats at the bottom of this conjecture.
At the moment, the concern of the national government is not in the area of public health but in that of poultry production. Effective monitoring and effective preventive measures are needed to prevent bird flu from entering industrial farms and causing a serious economic impact, something that has already happened in several countries.
Obviously, for all that is at stake, bird flu cannot be hidden. If the outbreak affected commercial farms, Argentina would lose the status of “highly pathogenic avian influenza free country” and, consequently, there would be serious restrictions on our production in the international market.
In any case, the current global situation suggests that the international poultry trade will suffer. On the one hand, there are countries in the northern hemisphere that have decided to start vaccinating their poultry, even if that means temporarily losing the “bird flu free country” label. On the other, there are countries, such as Japan, that have already temporarily closed imports of poultry products from places where there have been minimal outbreaks.
In any case, Argentina must also take care of the internal market. The population should not panic or stop consuming poultry meat and eggs. And producers should not use the situation to irrationally increase the prices of products.
