MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Controversy over sheep disease.

The University of Magallanes is demanding compensation from the Chilean Agriculture and Livestock Service, SAG, for not having detected on time an outbreak of maedi-visna that ended frustrating the development of an ambitious milk sheep program. SAG monitors and is responsible for the compliance of livestock and agriculture sanitary measures in Chile.

The court action demanding the equivalent of 300,000 US dollars is linked to the project began by Magallanes University with the import of 30 Milschaff milk producing ewes and 2 rams from Argentine Patagonia in late 1995. The whole project collapsed when an outbreak of maedi-visna, a sheep viral infection, outbreak was reported in the Ultima Esperanza trial farm forcing the sacrifice of all the animals.

The University of Magallanes claims that the Agriculture and Livestock Service failed in making the timely tests to avoid the contagion and spread of the disease.

At the time SAG Director Mr. Carlos Rowland said that the imported sheep complied with all sanitary conditions and that "Argentina is 96% free of the disease, and is so recognized internationally including Chile, therefore those tests were not requested or performed".

With the elimination at the time of the program's sheep the disease was eradicated. Nevertheless Maedi-visna apparently has kept spreading in the north of Chile where it was introduced with imported ewes and rams from Spain in 2000, and once again reached Magallanes in November of that year.

"Six farms were detected with the infectious disease, five in Ultima Esperanza and one in Magallanes, but they were rapidly under control following epidemiological monitoring by SAG", stressed Mr. Rowlands.

However Magallanes University insists that the maedi-visna outbreak destroyed not only the effort and funds invested in the milk producing sheep program, but also "devastated all the dreams and hopes of the University in that area".