Brazil says bird flu outbreak that hit poultry sector contained

BRASILIA

Brazil said it had contained an outbreak of avian flu that had forced it to suspend chicken meat exports to China and 20 other countries last month.

The world's top exporter of the commodity was forced to halt exports to its main client China, as well as the European Union and fellow Latin American countries over an outbreak of "highly pathogenic avian influenza" (HPAI) on a farm in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro said the farm had been sanitized and was under quarantine for the required 28-day period.

Brazil can be declared bird flu free only once this waiting period is over, but halfway there, "no animals are dying," Favaro told reporters in Brasilia.

"The outbreak was contained," he added.

The minister said the government had already started negotiations with importing countries to relax restrictions, and expects a return to "normality" within 15 to 20 days after the quarantine is lifted.

Brazil exports about 30 percent of its chicken production.

Favaro said there was no concern after a bird flu case, the fifth in total, was confirmed on June 3 at the Brasilia zoo, which was shuttered after a wild pigeon and a duck were found dead there in late May.

Cases involving wild birds have "zero impact" on the restrictions imposed on the poultry industry, the minister said.

Avian flu has spread globally in recent years, leading to mass culling of poultry, some human deaths, and rising egg prices.

Human cases detected so far were mostly in people who had close contact with infected birds and other animals, or contaminated environments.