Yara Aquino
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - Forty ranches were sealed off in the state of Paraná, after initial suspicions of an outbreak of hoof and mouth disease were raised on Friday (21) with respect to four properties located in the municipalities of Loanda, Amaporã, Maringá, and Grandes Rios. Altogether the properties contain over 4 thousand head of cattle. 20 animals display symptoms of the disease.

The Paraná government also suspended agricultural fairs, rodeos, and expositions throughout the state.

The laboratory results will be announced tomorrow (25), but, according to the minister of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply, Roberto Rodrigues, there is a 90% chance that the cases will be confirmed.

"All the measures to seal off properties tracked by the state have already been taken in accordance with international rules," the minister assured.

He informed that the outbreak in Paraná originated in Mato Grosso do Sul. The animals suspected of having contracted hoof and mouth disease came from there and were bought at an auction in Londrina (PR).

Rodrigues went on to say that the municipality of Toledo, in Paraná, also received a group of animals from Mato Grosso do Sul for an agricultural fair. The fair is over, and the animals have been isolated.

According to the minister, 35 of the 41 countries that had imposed restrictions on the purchase of Brazilian meat as of last Thursday (20) had included meat from the state of Paraná in their restrictions. "There is a serious problem, however, from the commercial standpoint, in that the restriction already applied to the state of Paraná," he observed. The federal government has already communicated its suspicions to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), Brazil's neighbors, and the countries that purchase meat from Brazil.

Translation: David Silberstein