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Outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Argentina.

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PORKER

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10/02/06
IFA calls for Argentinean beef ban

By Ray Ryan, Agribusiness Correspondent
IRISH farm leaders yesterday called for a ban on beef imports from South America where Argentina is the latest country to confirm an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

The outbreak was discovered among 70 animals on a farm near the border with Paraguay. It is the first outbreak of the contagious disease since August 2003 in Argentina, the fifth largest beef exporter in the world.

A ban on imports from the region where the outbreak was confirmed is now likely to be imposed by countries worldwide.

Argentina exports 300,000 tonnes of beef a year to the European Union and Russia.

Following the news, Chile moved to suspend imports of Argentine beef, while Brazil said it was introducing more stringent import restrictions on Argentine livestock.
 
Foot and mouth disease in Argentina

(Date of previous outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Argentina reported to the OIE: August 2003).

Translation of information received on 8 February 2006 from Dr Jorge Nestor Amaya, President, National Agrifood Health and Quality Service (SENASA), Secretariat for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food, Buenos Aires:

Report date: 8 February 2006.

An outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus serotype O was reported in extensively farmed livestock (establishment with a surface area of 6,000 hectares) in San Luis del Palmar, province of Corrientes (27º 30' 24.2" S - 58º 22' 59.6" W).

Date of first confirmation of the event: 8 February 2006.

Date of start of the event: 5 February 2006. This is the date of the official intervention after notification was received. Judging by observations at the farm (lesions and clinical signs) and by the preliminary investigations (anamnesis), the event probably started on 26 January 2006.

Total number of susceptible animals in the outbreak: 3,012 head of cattle, 30 sheep and 25 goats.

Total number of cases: 70 head of cattle.

Total number of deaths: 0.

Source of outbreak or origin of infection: unknown or inconclusive. The corresponding epidemiological investigations are being carried out, with tracing, inspection and sampling of farms with which there have been animal movements, in order to investigate the origin and probable spread.

Control measures

A. Undertaken:

- quarantine;

- movement control inside the country;

- vaccination using inactivated oil vaccine (polyvalent – serotypes O, A and C) (Note: As the first FMD vaccination campaign of 2006 in the province of Corrientes started on 1 February, priority will be given to the affected area, primarily by vaccinating all susceptible species in the perifocal area);

- disinfection of infected premises/establishment.

B. To be undertaken:

- stamping out;

- screening;

- zoning.

*********************

OIE Animal Health Information Department
[email protected].
 
The two biggest world exporters of beef are off and running,Wonder if the packers will go down there NOW since F/M runs rampat?????????
 
EU set to ban Argentine beef after FMD alert
JIM BUCHAN

THE European Commission is almost certain to impose a ban of imports of beef from Argentina, following confirmation of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the province of San Luis del Palmar Corrientes, close to the borders with Paraguay and Brazil.

About 70 cattle were found to have clinical symptoms, but all 3,500 head on the affected estancia have now been slaughtered. The authorities in Buenos Aires are considering further measures, including the culling of livestock on contiguous properties.


The news comes as a huge blow to the Argentine beef industry, which is one of the largest in the world with exports last year worth £920 million. FMD is not new to Argentina, with serious outbreaks in 2001 and 2003, both of which resulted in costly suspensions of exports. However, last year the country was officially recognised as being free from the disease. All cattle are supposed to be routinely vaccinated twice yearly, but exports to the US and Canada are still banned.

In early October there was a major outbreak of FMD in three provinces in Brazil, which led to a ban on imports to many regions, including the EU, Russia and North America. Those bans remain in place. Brazil follows a vaccination programme similar to Argentina's, but the suspicion remains that the disease entered the country as a result of illegal imports of live cattle from Paraguay, where prices are appreciably lower. It is possible that Paraguay may be the source of the outbreak in Argentina.

Helene Judge, of the Meat and Livestock Commission's office in Brussels, said: "It seems likely that a ban will be imposed on imports from the infected province and the six neighbouring regions slaughtered after 4 February."

A spokesman for Coninagro, Argentina's equivalent to the NFU, said: "Argentina's livestock production will be gravely affected by the closure of international markets that were opened with so much effort."

Beef prices, which rose by 30 per cent in Argentina last year, are likely to fall sharply. And the effect on the economy will be severe. The value of beef exports has doubled over the past five years and has been a significant contributor to total Argentine exports of £23bn.

Chile, the third largest market for Argentine beef, is to ban all imports for at least six months. Russia, the destination for 20 per cent of all exports, is also likely follow the EU's stance.

Within the EU, Germany is the biggest importer. Figures from the EU agency Intrastat and Customs & Excise reveal that in the first 11 months of 2005 the UK imported 8,419 tonnes of beef from Argentina - an increase of 800 tonnes on the previous year. In addition, 5,980 tonnes of corned beef entered the UK.

A prolonged ban on imports from Argentina and Brazil would certainly have a major impact on the EU supply situation, where the forecast is that during the current year there will be a deficit of more than 400,000 tonnes between domestic production and consumer demand.

With memories still vivid of the 2001 FMD epidemic in the UK, which was the biggest the world has seen, farmers will have some sympathy for their colleagues in South America. However, the lifting of the ban on exports from the UK, which has been in place for almost ten years, probable in late spring, will undoubtedly bring opportunities on mainland Europe, especially for cow-beef destined for manufacturing.
 
LATEST NEWS; Argentina had officially reported the outbreak to the World Organization for Animal Health and health officials of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur), which groups Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, with Chile and Bolivia as associate states.

Argentina shares borders with all the other Mercosur members, with Chile to its west, Bolivia and Paraguay to the north and Uruguay and Brazil to the northeast.

The governments of Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay immediately strengthened their border controls on Wednesday after Argentina said it had detected the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

Uruguayan Agriculture Minister Jose Mujica told local media that the country had set up animal hygiene barriers on its borders with Brazil and Argentina to halt the possible infection of Uruguayan livestock.

The measures include sterilization at the frontier and tightened veterinary inspections at customs posts, he said.

Brazil and Chile both declared suspension of Argentine beef imports, while Paraguay imposed a ban on imports of live animals and high-risk products.

In the Brazilian province of Rio Grande do Sul, which has Corrientes as a neighbour across the border, authorities also established a hygiene barrier to inspect every vehicle passing through.

Foot-and-mouth disease has previously caused heavy losses to Mercosur member nations.

It hit Argentina at a time when Uruguayan beef had just secured re-entry to Mexico, (NOT GOOD )*******************which imposed a ban in 2001 after a disease outbreak in Uruguay.

Brazil is still under a ban by 56 nations since the end of 2005 as a result of the disease detected in its southern states.

Foot-and-mouth, which is not contagious to humans, is a highly communicable viral disease among cloven-hoofed animals like cattle FROM MEXICO goats and sheep, causing fever and blistery lesions on the tongue, lips and hoofs of the animal. The consequences also include a reduction in the meat volume and milk production of surviving animals.

We Should shutout Mexico's cattle exports
 
Porker if they vacinate for FM does that mean they will all show a false pos. on testing? Was this the reason they did NOT want to vacinate in europe when they had the outbreak a few years back?
 
You got It and here is a link : http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/agriculture/project_showcase/foot_and_mouth.html
 
Porker thanks for the link. Sometimes I have to double check what I think I know.
The Storys are FLYING.
Argentina cattle market ruminates over beef disease
14 February 2006

BUENOS AIRES: Mournful moos and deafening bells sound throughout Argentina's largest cattle auction, where market players lament how foot-and-mouth disease could hurt their business - and the nation's economy.


The world's No. 3 beef exporter known for its succulent steaks made from pasture-fed cattle, Argentina last week confirmed an outbreak of the highly contagious disease in the northeastern province of Corrientes.

Although the ailment does not generally harm humans, it is shunned in the world market. A host of South American nations, along with Argentina's top clients Russia, Israel, South Africa and Singapore, have already restricted Argentine beef imports.

"What bothers cattle ranchers is not being able to plan for the future," broker Gervasio Saenz Valiente said on Friday, as buyers surveyed steer ripe for slaughter inside the bustling Liniers market in Buenos Aires.

The news dashed hopes in the thriving sector. Beef exports hit a record $USUS1.4 billion ($NZ2.08 billion) last year and Argentina's government was working to reopen lucrative markets, such as the United States, closed after foot-and-mouth struck in 2001 and 2003.

Some analysts had predicted sales abroad would surge to $USUS2 billion ($NZ2.98 billion) in a few years as Argentina regained its world stature with the help of systematic vaccinations against the illness, which cripples cloven-hoofed animals' reproductive capacity.

Now, those prospects have dimmed.

"This is a terrible blow. The harm is much more serious than what it appears," said a cattle rancher who put 70 animals up for auction at Liniers, declining to give his name.

As auctioneers struck their gavels to signal the session's end, traders jostled nearly as much as the cattle they buy and sell, and repeated rumours of a government conspiracy meant to lower domestic prices for the dietary staple by cutting exports.

Argentina's government raised taxes on beef exports last year in a bid to increase supply in the domestic market, and it recently imposed a system of government permits for each shipment abroad.

President Nestor Kirchner's government blames surging exports for the 21.3 per cent rise in local beef prices last year, compared with 12.3 per cent overall consumer inflation. Argentines are among the biggest beef-eaters in the world, and even the poverty-stricken are used to buying the meat.

Many expect that as exports shrink due to market closures, local supply will expand and domestic beef prices will fall – just as the government had hoped.

"This fits the government like a glove," several people at Liniers said.

But the president himself denied any official wrong-doing.

"We are working with complete seriousness. We want beef prices to fall, but we want them to fall by consensus and due to the responsible actions of the productive sector...not because of foot-and-mouth," Kirchner said during a recent press conference at the presidential palace.

Prices did slump on Friday, nearly 5 per cent on average due to the sharp drop in value for animals for export. An average number of cattle - about 11,400 - entered Liniers market.

"As long as there is uncertainty, prices will continue to fall," said Carlos Caraccia, a beef exporter.

What is not clear is how long that uncertainty could last.
 
What is not clear is how long that uncertainty could last. Quote; About a YEAR!!!! ,that will change the price of BEEF and Cattle
 

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