MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

FAM: contained in Brazil; outbreak in Ecuador.

Argentina lifted the ban on meat imports from fifteen Brazilian states, which was imposed June 23, following the outbreak of a foot and mouth disease case in the northern state of Para.

"Imports are allowed from all those states that have been recognized as free of FAM with vaccination by the Paris based International Organization of Epizooties", said a spokesperson from SENASA, the Argentine office that monitors sanitary and quality conditions of food.

Reports from the Brazilian government indicate that the states involved have adopted the necessary measures to ensure the condition of free of FAM with vaccination.

The list includes the states of Bahía, Espírito Santo, Goias, Matto Grosso, Matto Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Parana, Rio do Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Sao Paulo, Sergipe, Tocantins, Rondonia and the Federal District of Brasilia.

The outbreak in the state of Para was in a pork farm.

In related news Ecuadorian sanitary authorities have admitted they are considering establishing an emergency area in the interior of the country after two cases tested positive to FAM and three others are waiting for further testing.

Santo Domingo de los Colorados, where the positive cases have been reported, is subtropical and one of Ecuador's main cattle and dairy farming areas, 180 miles west of the capital, Quito. The three pending cases are in the Andes highlands.

However the government's concern is Santo Domingo de los Colorados with 200,000 hectares of pastures, 200,000 liters per day of milk and an annual killing of 80,000 head of cattle.

In 2002 Ecuador was forced to declare a national quarantine following the outbreak of forty cases in the Andean province of Chimborazo.