"According to the situation observed in different countries of
the region, Argentina will begin a health prevention project with the purpose of eliminating the risk of infection". With these words, Argentine health authorities informed that they will commence a vaccination campaign
against aftose fever begin in the so-called "border buffer area".
Argentine government officials informed the initiation of a campaign to halt the spread of this disease, through a document signed by the
Argentine Service of Health and Quality (Senasa), headed by Victor Machinea. Although the government has not confirmed the existence of cattle rodeos infected with aftose fever, there are daily reports made by producers
form different parts of the country, especially in the south of Cordoba and Santa Fe, northwest of Buenos Aires, the central region for Argentine cattle producers.
With the new prevention plan, the Senasa
is trying to preserve Argentina's health status. Until hours ago, Argentina was officially "a country free of Aftose fever without vaccination", according to the announcement made in May by the International
Organization of Epizooties (OIE). Now, the organism has turned this title into " a country free of Aftose fever with regional vaccination". If this continues, many markets will close their doors once again. The U.S. and
Canada could be two cases, and if this happens the loss suffered by the Argentine exporting sector could reach $210 million dollars.
The emergency sanitary measures will be applied in the provinces that border with
Bolivia, Paraguay and Brazil. The animals in these areas will be vaccinated and specially identified through ear tags provided by the health organism. However, no plans have been announced for the "Pampa Humeda" region,
where most of the alerts have been made.
Meanwhile, and with the intention of avoiding possible measures by other countries of the Mercosur that could hurt Argentina, such as closing their doors to Argentine products,
authorities of the Senasa have begun a campaign in which they will speak to health authorities of Uruguay, Brazil, Canada and the U.S. These diplomatic actions intend to calm these countries, which represent important
commercial destinations for Argentine meat.
Berhongaray speaks clearly
Meanwhile, Argentine Secretary of Agriculture Antonio Berhongaray was ruthless when speaking of the treatment given to the
information of the possible appearance of aftose fever. In his declarations he sustained, "Those who speak of aftose fever can make us lose markets such as the U.S. and Canada. Going back to the 1992 will take the price
per kilogram of our meat from 90 cents down to 65 cents."
Berhongaray also stated that in many cases the disease is spoken about with total ignorance or ill will, ant that this attitude could represent
seriously damage the Argentine agricultural sector.
In the middle of August of last year, producers were extremely worried about the reappearance of the disease. In the province of Formosa, infected animals were
detected and the Senasa sacrificed over 3000 animals. This measure intended to avoid the spread of the disease to the rest of the country. The infection was caused by the illegal entrance of sick animals from Paraguay.
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