Paraguay hopes to see more markets reopen after FMD

As a result of the outbreak, that mainly involved cattle, other Latin American countries had to close their borders to avoid contamination of their flocks and herds. This affected pork trade as well. 

 

Feliz Otazú, president of the Paraguayan National Service for Quality and Animal Health (Senacsa), said that visiting health authority staff in Argentina and Uruguay, he had virtually obtained promises that the restrictions would soon be lifted with regard to shipment and through transport of meat.

 

Senacsa had asked these countries’ animal health services to intervene. Senacsa visited Argentina on Monday; and went to Uruguay the day after.

                                                               
Otazú told Argentinean newspaper El Cronista www.cronista.com, “On those occasions we were very well received and much hope that these restrictions will be lifted, it is virtually a promise. We have received the promise that in the not too distant maybe next week will lift the restriction.”

He recalled that Brazil, for example, is already dealing and selling Paraguayan meat (frozen and matured), and within these products only restriction is meat from very targeted areas where outbreaks were Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) was detected.

As for the recovery status of the country, estimated that in one year may recover the health status of ‘FMD-free country by vaccination’.

As from 2004, Paraguay had been a country free from FMD or FMD vaccines, until an outbreak of FMD was found in the department of San Pedro in September 2011. At that time the situation worsened, and early January, another outbreak of FMD was found in a cattle farm in San Pedro. This caused the suspension of the health status and the loss of major markets.