Avian influenza continues to advance towards the south, after confirming the first cases of the disease in the O’Higgins and Maule regions.
This Friday the first cases of bird flu were confirmed in the O’Higgins and Maule regionsspecifically in the communes of Pichilemu y Licantenrespectively.
In both areas, technical tables were created with different authorities to analyze the health situation.
First case of avian flu in the O’Higgins region
It is worth mentioning that prior to the detection of the first case in O’Higgins, a technical panel was formed yesterday for the eventual detection of the highly pathogenic Avian Influenza virus of the H5N1 variant, present to date, between the regions of Arica and Valparaiso.
This area has intense poultry production activity, concentrating 62% of the total national slaughter of fresh poultry meat, for which reason surveillance work has been reinforced in poultry and industry (uninfected, up to now, in no region).
During the formation of the technical table, The authorities called on bird owners and farms to maximize biosecurity measures by avoiding contact of their birds with wild birds.
Along these lines, they emphasized the call for people not to touch or handle dead and/or sick birds to prevent the spread of the disease and wait for the complaint to be dealt with by specialized personnel.
“The SAG has carried out coordination work, but also monitoring, especially in the coastal area of our region, where the presence of people increases due to the summer season, which is why we request that the community be informed about this disease and that they comply with the measures indicated by the authority”, said the Undersecretary of Agriculture, José Guajardo Reyes.
Meanwhile, the head(s) of the SAG Operations Subdirectorate, Grisel Monje, assured that “the Agricultural and Livestock Service of the O’Higgins region is prepared to face the arrival of the virus with a team of professionals and has carried out previous coordination work with various actors to facilitate the channeling and handling of complaints”.
According to information collected by La Radio, in the O’Higgins region, a series of samples have been compared with other birds that have been in poor condition or died in sectors of wetlands and beaches.
First case of avian influenza in the Maule region
Meanwhile, the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) confirmed the first positive case of H5N1 avian influenza in the Maule region, after the results of the institutional laboratory confirmed the existence of the viral strain in a pelican specimen found with symptoms in the mouth of the Mataquito river, in the La Pesca sector, in the commune of Licantén.
As a result of this, the Regional Technical Table on Avian Influenza was established, headed by the regional presidential delegate, Humberto Aqueveque and other regional authorities, with the purpose of disclosing the details of this information and the activities that will be carried out in the coming days. .
In this regard, delegate Aqueveque explained that “it is a limited case on the Licantén beach, a pelican, and for this reason this table will work permanently with various relevant authorities and on Monday the 9th we will have a regional cabinet and we will be developing how all Government services are made available”.
For her part, the national director(s) of the SAG, Andrea Collao, indicated that “it must be made clear that this disease is limited to wild migratory aquatic birds. Today what the SAG does is work to contain this event, through surveillance, control, early detection and attention to complaints, which alerts us where we have to focus our work”.
bird flu
The Maule ranks fourth in egg production nationwide; therefore, the actions that are developed in terms of surveillance of the disease will be reinforced after this first positive case.
In this sense, the authorities stressed that poultry are still free of the disease and called on poultry owners to take extreme biosecurity measures, preventing their birds from having contact with wild birds.
The Maule region, through its authorities and service professionals, has made various arrangements prior to the arrival of the first positive case, which has contributed to the timely work that will need to be activated after this announcement.