Health

Brazil to vaccinate 160 mi cattle, buffalo against FMD

This is the 2nd phase of the campaign against foot-and-mouth disease

Karine Melo

Published on 01/11/2022 - 13:12

Brasília

gado boi vaca rebanho — © Arquivo/Agência Brasil

The second stage of Brazil’s national vaccination campaign against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) for 2022 starts today (Nov. 1) and runs until November 30. Approximately 161 million cattle and buffaloes must be immunized.

In ten Brazilian states—Alagoas, Amazonas, Ceará, Maranhão, Pará, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Roraima, and Rio Grande do Norte—immunization should be directed at animals up to 24 months old.

In 11 other states—which make up Block IV of the Strategic Plan of the National Program for Foot-and-Mouth Disease Surveillance (PE-PNEFA)—vaccination in November will be aimed at cattle and buffalo of all ages. This block totals 141 million animals to be vaccinated.

Suspension

After the November stage, seven states within Block IV—the Federal District, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, and Tocantins—will suspend vaccination. In all, some 114 million cattle and buffalo will no longer be inoculated—nearly half of the national herd. The action comes as part of the evolution of the project aimed at expanding the FMD–free zones without vaccination in the country, as stipulated in the program.

“The Animal Health Department of the Ministry of Agriculture awaits developments in the other states in order to submit the Brazilian petition for the international recognition as a free zone without vaccination with the World Organization for Animal Health,” an official statement reads.

Free zone

In Brazil today, only the states of Santa Catarina, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Acre, Rondônia, and portions of Amazonas and Mato Grosso have been given international certification as FMD-free zone without vaccination.