Cecília Jorge
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - A new outbreak of hoof and mouth disease was detected in Mato Grosso do Sul, raising the number of cases identified in the state since October to 33. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the most recent outbreak occurred on a ranch in the southeastern part of the municipality of Japorá, near the Paraguayan border. The disease was identified during a routine inspection by the official veterinary service.

Altogether, the ranch possesses 137 head of cattle. They will all be slaughtered, as a preventive measure. According to an analysis performed by the Animal Health Department (DAS), 10 animals showed clinical symptoms of the disease, although only one reacted positively to the serological tests.

The ranch is located in a region that has been under quarantine since October, when earlier outbreaks of the disease were detected. Two other municipalities, Eldorado and Mundo Novo, are also part of the quarantined area, which will not be expanded as a result of the new outbreak.

So far 33,741 animals have been sacrificed in the three municipalities. Over half the herd in Japorá has been slaughtered: more than 27 thousand animals in a total of 47.6 thousand. In Eldorado and Mundo Novo, 3,938 and 2,683 have been slaughtered, respectively.

Translation: David Silberstein