SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)-Two of Brazil’s major cattle-ranching states have prohibited transit of live animals and farm goods from Bolivia following an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in that neighboring country.
The Mato Grosso state government said in a statement on Monday that agriculture officials were discussing other preventative measures.
“We are on alert, because it’s been 11 years since this state has had foot-and-mouth disease and we intend to keep it that way,“ said Decio Coutinho, president of the state’s Animal Health and Safety Institute, Indea.
Mato Grosso do Sul will close its border with Bolivia, the local Estado newswire reported. Calls placed with the Agriculture Ministry’s office in the state were not returned.
In October 2005, a series of foot-and-mouth cases were reported on the Paraguay border with Mato Grosso do Sul, leading ranchers in the state to charge that Paraguay cattle had crossed the border and infected the Brazilian herd. Paraguay is considered free of the disease with vaccine by the World Organization for Animal Health.
This weekend’s outbreak put Brazil border states on high alert, however, to protect the country from a future outbreak that would damage its reputation for animal health and disease prevention among world beef importers.
“Luckily our border with Bolivia is not as porous as our border with Paraguay. Cattle have to cross the Paraguay River if they want to get into the state,“ Ademar Silvia, president of the Mato Grosso do Sul Agriculture Federation, told Dow Jones Newswires.
Bolivia’s government reported foot-and-mouth disease on Sunday in Santa Cruz, some 700 kilometers from the border of Mato Grosso do Sul, the No. 1 cattle-ranching state in Brazil.
Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals like cattle, sheep and pigs. It causes sores, blisters and fever, and is deadly for livestock but harmless to people.
Brazil is the world’s leading beef exporter.
Source: Kenneth Rapoza Dow Jones Newswires 55-11-3145-1488 kenneth.rapoza@dowjones.com