MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

FAM controversy in Brazil delays livestock elimination

Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture began this week sacrificing livestock in the south of the country where the recurrence of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease was reported.

A total 377 cattle from two different farms in the state of Parana are being terminated in this first stage, but "another 6.126 livestock from another five farms are to be eliminated in a date yet to be established", said Juliana Matoso, spokesperson for the federal authorities in Parana, a state neighbouring with Paraguay and Argentina.

In the State of Matto Grosso do Sul where the original FAM outbreak was first diagnosed last October, the sanitary rifle has been fired at least 30.000 times.

Agriculture ministry officials also announced that in five other states of the union, the anti FAM vaccination campaign began last week and should be over by the end of the month. The states are Rio do Janerio, Ceara, Minas Gerais, Bahia and Espirito Santo totalling over 35 million head of cattle.

Although the first blood samples confirming the outbreak of FAM in Parana were reported three months ago, the livestock sacrifice only began this month because Parana State officials insisted the animals were healthy.

The controversy between local and federal agents was finally overcome when Parana farmers insisted with the sanitary elimination of contaminated livestock "to minimize the exposure of the country's beef industry already sanctioned with bans on Brazilian beef from over fifty countries", pointed out Ms Matoso.

Parana with 10.5 million cattle is Brazil's eighth's beef exporter. Parana is next to Matto Grosso del Sul which has a 25 million rodeo and contributes with half of Brazil's meat overseas sales. Actually it was in Matto Grosso do Sul, next to the Paraguayan border that the original FAM outbreak was reported last year.

Brazil which is the world's main beef exporter has a total rodeo of 205 million cattle. Beef exports in 2004 totalled 2.4 billion US dollars and 3 billion last year