Roberta Lopes
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - This week the government released a report on its 2005 campaign for foot and mouth disease (febre aftosa) vaccination. According to the coordinator of Animal Disease Combat the the Ministry of Agriculture, Janil Souza, 96% of the country's cattle and buffalos have been vaccinated.

According to Souza, the government's option to eliminate the disease through vaccination puts a great deal of responsibility on cattle ranchers who must vaccinate their cattle correctly at the right time.

Souza says that at the moment the following states are considered free of the disease under international standards: Acre, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondônia, São Paulo, Sergipe, Tocantins and the Distrito Federal. The cattle raising municipalities of Guarajá and Boca do Acre, located in the state of Amazonas, are also considered free of the disease.

Translation: Allen Bennett