The government of Espírito Santo has prohibited, for an indefinite period, access to the Três Ilhas Archipelago and the other islands in the Environmental Protection Area (APA) of Setiba, located in the municipalities of Guarapari and Vila Velha, in the metropolitan region of Vitória. The measure was adopted due to the cases of avian flu registered in the state and covers a total of eight islands. The Three Islands Archipelago is made up of five islands: Quitongo, Cambaião, Guanchumbas, Leste-Oeste and Guararema. In the other areas of the APA are the islands Francisco Vaz, Toaninha and Alacaeira. The joint ordinance of the State Secretariat for the Environment and Water Resources and the State Institute for the Environment and Water Resources was published this Thursday (8) in an extra edition of the Official Gazette of the state. Espírito Santo is the state with the highest number of cases of avian influenza in the country, with 20 outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) confirmed. Until then, Brazil had never registered the occurrence of the disease in its territory. In all, 30 outbreaks in wild birds have already been confirmed in the states of Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo and Bahia. The majority is in birds of the species Thalasseus acuflavidus (popular name Tern-de-bando) and Thalasseus maximus (Tin-Reis-royal). The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock provided a panel for consultation of confirmed, discarded and investigational cases. The platform can be consulted by anyone and will be updated twice a day, at 1 pm and 7 pm. This week, the federal government also opened an extraordinary credit of R$ 200 million in favor of Mapa for actions to combat the avian flu. The ministry informed that, with the state of zoosanitary emergency in force in the country, control and containment actions will be intensified to prevent the disease from reaching subsistence and commercial poultry production, in addition to preserving fauna and human health. Mapa’s orientation is that the population does not collect birds that they find, sick or dead, and call the nearest veterinary service. Still according to the government, there are no changes in the Brazilian status of free of highly pathogenic avian influenza before the World Organization for Animal Health, as there is no record in commercial production. The disease Avian influenza is a highly contagious viral disease that mainly affects domestic and wild birds. It is mainly characterized by high bird mortality which may be accompanied by clinical signs such as staggering gait, torticollis, respiratory distress and diarrhoea. The H5N1 virus does not easily infect humans, but the recent rise in cases has health authorities around the world on high alert. Human infections can occur through contact with infected birds, dead or alive, or environments contaminated with respiratory secretions, blood, feces and other fluids released in the slaughter of birds. The risk of transmission to people through properly prepared and well-cooked food is also very low. Furthermore, person-to-person transmission is not sustained, meaning the virus does not spread easily from person to person for now. Despite being infrequent, in humans, avian flu can be serious, with a high mortality rate. The Butantan Institute, in São Paulo, started to develop a vaccine against the disease []due to concerns that it could become a new pandemic.
Agência Brasil
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