The South American country has already suspended its poultry meat exports.
The Chilean Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) confirmed that the health authorities slaughtered some 40,000 birds this week, after detecting the first case of bird flu in poultry.
The agency reported that the contagion was registered in a poultry industrial facility in the O’Higgins Region, located in the center of the country.
“After the finding, the SAG activated the existing protocol that involves the slaughter of affected birds and the isolation of the areasanitary measures that are intended to prevent the spread of the disease to other poultry farms,” he said in a announcement.
The Minister of Health, Ximena Aguilera, announced that actions related to the monitoring of people who could be exposed are being carried out.
🔹Remember that the population at risk is: 👉🏽Workers who are directly exposed to secretions from infected birds, for which the use of personal protection is recommended. 👉🏽 People who are dedicated to raising chickens that may be sick.
— Ximena Aguilera (@ximenaguilera) March 15, 2023
“Yes ok, so far there has been no person-to-person transmission. We have had cases in sea lions, wild birds, but not infected people,” he said.
The Minister of Agriculture, Esteban Valenzuela, explained that, as soon as this week’s contagion was confirmed, the area was immediately controlled, the World Organization for Animal Health (OMSA) was informed, and exports of poultry meats
For her part, the national director of SAG, Andrea Collao, explained that four months ago the agency began to carry out a health strategy to prevent bird flu.
“In less than 24 hours, early detection has been carried out, which reflects that the system does work and therefore we need to emphasize the biosecurity measures that establishments must have,” he explained regarding the contagion detected this week.
According to official data, Since Chile began the emergency campaign, a total of 27 bird species have been affected. In total, samples have been taken from more than 16,000 backyard birds, almost 4,000 industrial birds and some 3,000 wild ones, in order to timely detect the presence of the virus.
