Broilers at a poultry farm on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, January 27, 2023. Matías Baglietto (NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Argentina has been in a public health emergency for almost a week because birds have been infected with bird flu. As of this Tuesday, health officials in the north of the country have identified at least eight cases and stepped up controls to prevent infections from progressing on meat and egg farms. All infections detected so far are in wild or domestic birds, but Argentina’s government is concerned about the potential spread of the disease in an industry that accounts for more than $350 million in exports a year, the economy ministry said.
“A single case in the production process automatically leads us to suspend these exports,” said Minister Sergio Massa when announcing new measures. The government will increase sanitation checks at border crossings and rake the natural areas where wild birds are concentrated.
The concern is great because the bird flu is spreading in South America. In Bolivia, whose border with northern Argentina is very active, the virus was detected in early February and more than 140,000 birds have already been slaughtered on farms producing food. Uruguay has also detected cases and both Paraguay and Brazil are awaiting confirmation. Transmission of the disease from birds to humans is rare and cannot be transmitted by eating meat or eggs, but the virus’ recent behavior has the scientific community concerned: both Peru and Chile have recorded the deaths of sea lions infected with the virus from eating them infected bird carcass. Researchers fear the mass die-off could cause the virus to spread between mammals.
Argentina has yet to confirm the contagion has jumped to poultry farms and the government has urged producers to suspect contagion and report it without fear of affecting their production. “We will financially compensate for the replacement of these birds because we want to provide peace of mind and also so that those families who see affected birds with symptoms or diagnoses are not afraid to communicate or spread the word,” said Agriculture Minister Juan José Bahillo. So far, the health authorities have received 98 reports of possible infections, including eight detected in the provinces of Cordoba, Santa Fe, Salta and Jujuy.
According to the latest annual report from the Ministry of Agriculture, the country is the eighth in the world with the highest poultry production. According to the government, 97% of production is for domestic consumption and the remaining 3% is exported to more than 56 countries. Poultry production involves more than 100 small and medium-sized enterprises and employs nearly 70,000 people across the country. These growers have been at the center of government pronouncements at a fragile time for all food-producing sectors: the government needs those dollars to stem inflation, which approaches 100% year on year, and growers are dealing with the worst droughts in decades confronted.
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