U.S. agriculture halts livestock imports due to bird flu infection

after Texas Animal Health Commission Alert about avian influenza in livestock in Texas, Kansas Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture The agency issued an order on Tuesday to stop the import of cattle from these states, agency secretary Ramón González Beiró reported.

This preventive measure is officially effective through Executive Order 2024-27, Additional requirements are also imposed for the issuance of livestock import licenses This comes after the federal government notified the health status of cattle infected with avian influenza.

“By continuing to receive animals from the United States, we must take precautions to prevent the introduction of diseases into Puerto Rico. In view of this situation, in accordance with the provisions of Law No. 69 of June 18, 1957 and the import requirements established by the Agricultural Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture, In addition to halting imports over the next few days until the situation improves, import license applicants must comply with all requirements established to date, in addition to notifying or certifying the farm of origin of the livestock.

” González Bello reports.

Although a specific time period will not be set for making precautionary measures more flexible, the secretary mentioned in an interview that a new day This may last “a few weeks” until the inspection is completed.

Agriculture chiefs stress that bird flu has spread rapidly among U.S. livestock so far, Mortality rate for infected cattle is 3%.

The agency is inspecting about 150 cows, equivalent to about nine car loads, which arrived on the island “two or three weeks ago” and were imported from Texas, and so far the cows have not shown up symptom.González Bello assured the business community.

“No symptoms yet”“The secretary said.

It should be noted that, according to the minister, the first symptoms in cattle in Texas appeared in the first week of February.

Some symptoms of the disease in cattle include reduced milk production, affected milk quality, reduced feed intake, diarrhea, fever, etc.

Additionally, in January this year, the Ministry of Agriculture provided 50% financing to import eight carloads of bullocks (150 cows) to farms in Puerto Rico with the goal of improving the genetics of local cattle and increasing meat production. Nuevo Día first reported.

“Currently, our staff have inspected cattle previously received from Texas and the United States, and there are currently no signs of infection.. Of course, we are communicating with federal agencies and conducting evaluations of livestock to ensure the quality of animals reaching our population. ” said González Beiró.

Brahman and Angus cattle are purchased from farms in Texas and shipped to the Hermanos Ruiz dairy in Aguadilla.There are more than 10 there rancher They pick up bulls, which cost between $10,000 and $15,000 each.

“That (importation of bulls) was a long time ago. The first symptoms in Texas cattle were in the first week of February, so beef cattle were already coming in and it coincided with the return of migratory birds,” Gonza Reis Bello said in this regard.

The Animal Health Commission confirmed that milk from cows in Texas and Kansas tested positive for the H5N1 avian influenza A virus.

The notice comes a week after Minnesota officials declared a poultry outbreak at a farm where goats were diagnosed with the virus.

according to federal ministry of agriculture The USDA says commercial milk supplies are safe and the risk to the public is low.

“There are currently no concerns about the safety of the commercial milk supply or the health risks this poses to consumers.”According to the federal agency.

Despite the agency’s assurances ‘The risk to the public is low’some symptoms in humans, in mild cases such as conjunctivitis or mild respiratory symptoms, and in more severe cases, pneumonia, fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, body aches, fatigue or breathing difficulty, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, in English).

It should be noted that the CDC also clarified that avian influenza does not generally cause infection in humans.