Epidemiological surveillance measures are strengthened in more than 20 thousand contact points throughout the country to detect any outbreak of avian influenza in the commercial poultry flock of 600 million birds, plus the 50 million family poultry flock of 5 million of properties.
The discovery of a juvenile green-winged duck does not represent an outbreak of this disease nor does it affect the status of a free country. The epidemiological surveillance operated in the 32 federal entities by the National Agri-Food Health, Safety and Quality Service (Senasica) is permanent 365 days a year.
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“This is not the time for vaccination against the AH5N1 virus. Only mandatory notification of confirmed cases in production units is considered,” said teacher Roberto Navarro López, director of the Mexico-United States Commission for the Prevention of Foot and Mouth Disease and other Exotic Animal Diseases (CPA) of Senasica.
“We are very well prepared in Senasica. In each state of the Republic we have a State Emergency Group in Animal Health. We have 32 Emergency Groups in the country, and in each state a Health Emergency Operation Center, which is coordinated by the representative of Agriculture, Senasica, our CPA staff, the State governments and the producers.”
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Biosecurity, which must be permanent, is the best protection against avian influenza. And if it is not this disease, there are many that can affect us severely. All measures must be complied with so that their farms remain in good condition, Dr. Navarro stressed.
He stated that it is an obligation of poultry farmers to protect their flocks, because they are their heritage. Each farm must have an authorized responsible veterinary doctor, who has taken a specialization course to cover everything related to bird health, which is certified by Senasica for two years.
They must notify the CPA, immediately, of any increase in bird mortality or decrease in egg production, he told El Sol de México.
But there is an official national registry of 81 percent of protected farms, which is good.
That is why we launched a “Closing Doors and Windows” campaign, so that poultry farmers have maximum security. Free-living wild birds should not enter your farms or come into contact with your chickens or hens.
It is about closing doors on farms and ensuring that their aviary meshes are in good condition, that their roofs do not have holes or cracks through which birds that may be infected can enter, said Dr. Navarro.
Also installing bathrooms, so that workers, before entering the places where the birds are, take a bath and leave their street clothes and use farm clothes for their work and thus avoid contagion. “People can transport very viruses easily.”
Migratory birds are monitored
In an interview, he explained how the findings of migratory birds are made to examine them within the framework of the Active Surveillance Program and the Passive Surveillance Program, which is when they report to us that the birds are dying and we are going to review them.
And Active Surveillance is when we are going to monitor, monitor healthy birds to find out if they are carriers of a virus such as avian influenza.
“We know that all migratory aquatic birds, mainly ducks, carry the avian influenza virus. They can have many influenza viruses of all types, but the ones that interest us are those that can be pathogenic for birds and people, in this case it is H5N1,” he said.
We know that the United States and Canada are where they reproduce. At the beginning of September, the migration to the south of the continent begins. First with the juvenile ducks. And in October, the adult ducks fly away. We knew we had to find juvenile ducks. In fact, the positive was this.
Our field staff also monitor ecological environments. This year has been a very strong drought for Mexico and the estuaries and wetlands do not have much water. We concentrate on points where there is water and these birds arrive.
The discovery was in a place called Estero de Becerra, in Tototlán. There 30 individuals were captured with special nets. They are taken to the Laboratory to see their ages, their physical condition, whether they are male or female. It goes to a database and a sample is taken from your trachea and your plate.
This is sent to our specialized laboratories in search of influenza viruses. And one of them, a male green-winged teal, in very good physical condition, tested positive.
And although the viruses are highly pathogenic, they do not affect ducks; but for domestic birds, it is very dangerous.
With these studies, what is done is to alert poultry farmers and there are many in the area, so that they reinforce their biosecurity measures.
And Dr. Navarro made this clarification: “Ducks do not go into farms. What happens is that where the ducks are, there are other birds such as grackles, which can become infected where the ducks are. And they do enter the production units and can carry the disease.”
So, an outbreak can break out there with the chickens, with the chickens’ manure, with the cages, with the people who work there. Poultry farmers are responsible for taking care of their assets with biosecurity measures. This is very important.
He also told EL Sol de México that in the United States there is compensation for producers when they are affected, but here in Mexico there is no such type of compensation and it is the producers, as it is an important economic activity, who have to protect their investment with biosafety measures that at Senasica, we certify.
Dr. Navarro insisted that “a lot of care is required in this poultry activity.”
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And regarding other biosafety measures, he said: “As a country, we have a H1N5-free status, published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF). And the fact that we find these cases in wild birds, even in backyard birds, does not affect the free status.”
If it occurs on farms, control actions must be carried out as was done last year and at the beginning of 2023 and the sanitary condition must be recovered, he emphasized.
2023-10-08 19:03:13
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