In the Andean country, 46 million doses of avian influenza vaccines have been administered and controls are being strengthened to prevent the reappearance of the virus.
The spread of bird flu is a cause for concern in the region and the continent.
Following the confirmed outbreak in Colombia on December 2, which was the first of 2024, the state of California in the United States declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, December 18, to counteract and address the spread of the disease, not only in birds on farms, but also in several reported cases in workers, as well as a child, who is the first case of infection in a minor.
In Ecuador, these new outbreaks of the disease have authorities on alert.
The Andean country experienced several outbreaks of avian flu between late 2022 and early 2023, and in May of that year the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock declared the disease under control.
On Thursday, December 19, the Phytosanitary Regulation and Control Agency (Agrocalidad) confirmed that Ecuador has had 509 days without the presence of the disease in production farms and that 46 million doses of avian influenza vaccines have been administered so far.
In the United States, as reported by the EFE Agency , on November 22, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a case of bird flu in a child in California, which was the first case of infection in a minor recorded in the country.
The boy, whose age was not disclosed, has since recovered from the disease. All members of the child's household reported having symptoms, but only the boy tested positive and health authorities have not yet been able to establish how he became infected.
At least 61 people in the United States have contracted the virus since April, the vast majority of them livestock or poultry farm workers, according to CDC data.
More than half of the cases have been reported in California (34), and all but one contracted the virus through infected dairy products, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).
California has been grappling with the virus and had to suspend distribution of raw milk from its largest retailer in late November after the H5N1 bird flu virus was detected in several retail samples.
California Governor Gavin Newsom stressed that “while the risk to the public remains low, we will continue to take all necessary measures to prevent the spread of this virus.”
Meanwhile, in Colombia, the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA) recalled that in October 2022, the first cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza occurred in the country, in backyard birds.
Despite the latest outbreak detected, according to the ICA, Colombia has managed to maintain its status as a Self-Declared Country Free of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.
This is because this outbreak was detected in the municipality of Acandí, located in the far north of the department of Chocó on the border with Panama, which has no land connection with the rest of the country, and its poultry production is made up exclusively of backyard farms, where birds are raised in unique spaces and their products are exclusively destined for self-consumption.
There are no commercial poultry farms in this region.
