Lourenço Melo
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply confirmed the incidence of hoof and mouth disease in part of the cattle herd on the Vezozzo ranch, in the municipality of Eldorado, Mato Grosso do Sul. Laboratory exams, which had been underway since October 1, discovered the presence of type "O" virus in some of the cattle. As a result, it was decided to sacrifice the entire herd, a total of 582 head, as a precautionary measure, although the disease was detected in only 153 animals.

At the same time, the transportation of cattle to other Brazilian states was prohibited. The region is located in the southernmost part of Mato Grosso do Sul, near the Brazil-Paraguay border.

The secretary of Agricultural Protection in the Ministry of Agriculture, Gabriel Alves Maciel, affirmed in a collective interview with the press that it will be possible to identify the causes of the outbreak within six months. Mato Grosso do Sul registered its last case of the disease in 1999, and the state was declared rid of the disease in 2001. Now even the quality of the vaccine used to innoculate the herds has come under suspicion.

Last year Brazil exported US$ 6.4 billion worth of various types of meat to 150 countries. The figure is expected to grow to US$ 8 billion this year. The National Confederation of Agriculture informed that the incidence of hoof and mouth disease in Mato Grosso do Sul should not alter this target.

On Monday (10), Maciel received a visit from the rural bloc in the Chamber of Deputies and agreed to make US$ 40 million available for animal health.

"A diplomatic mission must embark immediately for the European Union and Russia, two of our biggest customers, to explain the steps that are being taken to isolate the outbreak," the president of the Brazilian Rural Society, João de Almeida Sampaio Filho, argued in a note to the press.

"It is necessary to reinforce the idea that Brazil is a country of continental proportions and that an isolated case will not damage the health of the national herd," Sampaio Filho comments in the note.

Translation: David Silberstein