Brazil has published detailed technical rules for its poultry compartmentalization program. The country’s Official Journal of October 22 carried details of all the technical procedures that must be complied with to be granted Health Certification for the Compartmentalization of the Poultry Production Chain.
The new rules cover breeder farms, broiler farms and hatcheries, and are applicable to both chicken and turkey production.
The procedures have been primarily introduced in response to the threat of avian influenza and Newcastle disease.
In 2008, the country asked the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) for its support in developing a compartmentalization model with the aim of preventing entry into the country of the two diseases. Since then, officials from the Ministry of Agriculture’s animal health department have been working industry and local poultry bodies, and biosecurity protocols have been developed based on the risk of the introduction and spread of the viruses into the national flock.
The Ministry of Agriculture has held a weeklong event to familiarize its animal health technicians on the new procedures and to foster closer working relationships between the country’s veterinary service and the poultry production chain.
