SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Japan suspended purchases of poultry from a Brazilian state after an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) on a non-commercial farm, Brazil’s meat industry association ABPA said on Wednesday.
The decision comes a day after the southeastern state of Espirito Santo declared a bird flu outbreak among domesticated animals on a farm with ducks, mallards, geese and chickens, which was Brazil’s first case seen in birds that are not wild.
The lobby group ABPA questioned the halt by Japan, which it said does not currently import poultry from the state, adding that the decision “is not in line with the guidelines of the World Organization for Animal Health (WHOA).”
Brazil, the world’s largest chicken exporter, first confirmed outbreaks among wild birds on May 15, and has since recorded 50 outbreaks of the disease in wild birds in seven states.
“It is worth remembering that industrial poultry farming in Brazil continues without any record of the disease,” ABPA said.
Brazil’s agriculture ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but in a statement on Monday said that the outbreak in Espirito Santo “does not bring restrictions to the international trade of Brazilian poultry products.”
(Reporting by Roberto Samora; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Mark Porter)
