The International Regional Animal Health Organization (OIRSA) located in San Salvador, El Salvador, has urged poultry farmers and authorities in Central America, Mexico and the Dominican Republic to “strengthen” biosecurity measures to prevent bird flu from affecting other countries.
According to the agency, the recommendation comes before “the World Health Organization (WHO) maximum alert” for the “rapid spread of outbreaks of avian influenza” registered in other nations of the world.
The agency suggested that poultry producers are alert at farms and give immediate warning to authorities about abnormal bird deaths, among other measures.
OIRSA informed that, according to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), from July 2016 to December 2016, cases of bird flu have been reported in countries from Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Chile has recently reported cases of bird flu.
According to OIRSA, 600 million poultry are counted in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic.