Brazil boosts bird flu defense to protect world's top chicken industry

CAMPINAS, Brazil, (Reuters) - Brazil is taking extra precautions to protect the world's largest poultry export industry from a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus that was this week detected among wild birds in the country after previously hitting neighboring nations.

Nearly $10 billion of chicken exports would be at risk if H5N1 bird flu infects commercial flocks in Brazil, which has taken on a growing role in supplying the world's poultry and eggs as importing nations ban chicken and turkey meat from countries with the virus.

On Monday, the only World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) accredited lab in Latin America confirmed detection of H5N1 in two wild Thalasseus acuflavidus birds, or Cabot's terns, and one Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) captured in Espirito Santo state.

Per protocol, local veterinarians in Espirito Santo took samples from the birds on site and sent them to the reference lab in Campinas, Brazil.

"The entire industry is mobilized to monitor the situation identified in Espirito Santo," national meat lobby ABPA said in a statement.

A case of bird flu on a farm usually results in the entire flock being killed and can trigger trade restrictions from importing countries, while detection among wild birds does not spark bans under WOAH guidelines.

Brazilian officials say they do not expect the cases in wild birds to have any trade impact, and noted Espirito Santo on Brazil's central Atlantic coast does not border any of the country's main poultry producing states in the far south.

In other countries, avian flu outbreaks in wild birds have frequently been followed by transmission to commercial flocks.

Bird flu outbreaks have contributed to higher prices of poultry and eggs, normally an affordable source of protein.

The Brazilian government this year raised investments 19-fold to increase testing capacity at its network of six federal laboratories, and increased the overall budget of its Animal and Plant Health and Inspection Services by some 12% to 209 million reais ($42 million).

"For every 1 real spent in the Campinas federal laboratory, some 64 reais of potential losses are avoided to the meat industry," said Rodrigo Nazareno, who coordinates the national laboratory network.