The Directorate-General for Food and Veterinary (DGAV) clarified on Wednesday that even the creation of chickens in domestic capoeiras lacks a record, admitting to know that many producers do not do so, which makes control over the aviary.
“In Portugal, the registration of poultry explorations is mandatory. […] Even those, as we commonly say, domestic capoeiras should be registered, ”said DGAV Director-General Susana Pombo, who was speaking at the Parliamentary Commission of Agriculture, regarding the influenza of birds.
DGAV has admitted to being aware that the universe of domestic bird capoeiras in Portugal is not recorded, which said it hinders the prevention and eradication work of the influenza of birds.
Susana Pombo also said that DGAV technicians end up detecting many explorations that are not recorded on the ground and that whenever there are new outbreaks of poultry flu infection, creators are more concerned with this record.
The DGAv Director-General said that a work of sensitization has been done, with the help of Parish Councils, City Councils and GNR, through the distribution of informative materials.
Regarding export, Susana Pombo explained that the areas where bird flu cases were detected are automatically prohibited from starting this process.
On the other hand, whenever a new focus is identified, Portugal sends letters to the main “customer countries”, to account for the restriction measures that are applied.
Even so, some countries choose to suspend purchases to Portugal.
In the same hearing, Pedro Raposo, representing the National Association of slaughter centers and transforming poultry meat (Ancave) and the Portuguese Federation of Poultry Associations (FEPASA), said that “there have always been countries that arrange pretexts to prevent export ”Giving Macau and Hong Kong as an example, which are“ the first to ban ”.
Pedro Raposo pointed out that the poultry sector was never beneficiary of support, but pointed out that aid in disease situations is needed, as the detection of a influenza from birds’ influenza leads to the slaughter of all animals.
This official also said that the order for compensation was reviewed in 2022, having already filed a request for a new update compared to inflation.
“Unfortunately the order has not yet been updated, but we had a good reception from the Ministry [da Agricultura]”He finished.
Last week, bird flu was confirmed in a domestic capoeira in the parish of Tornada and Salir do Porto and in birds of the D. Carlos I Urban Park, in the municipality of Caldas da Rainha, in Leiria.
Restrictions on animal movement and surveillance measures were imposed on poultry explorations, located in the restriction zones (within 10 kilometers around the focus detected in domestic capoeira).
It has returned to all poultry holders to comply with safety measures, in particular, to avoid contact between domestic and wild birds.
Earlier in the same week, confirmation of a new focus of avian flu had already been announced in a small exploration of chickens, ducks and geese, in Sintra (Lisbon), where a case had been detected earlier this month.
On the same day the first case was confirmed in Sintra, DGS clarified that, to date, people with symptoms or signs suggestive of infection had not been identified by this virus (H5N1).
The transmission of the virus to humans rarely happens, and sporadic cases have been reported worldwide.
However, when it occurs, the infection can lead to a severe clinical picture.
Transmission occurs, above all, through contact with infected animals or with fabrics, penalties, excrement or inhalation of viruses due to contact with infected animals or contaminated environments.
In Portugal, in the current epidemiological time, three cases of high pathogenicity avian flu virus in wild birds had been confirmed, namely in a yellow-yellow givot in Quarteira, Loulé, in a sera Dark, in São Jacinto, Aveiro, and in a yellow-knee seagull in Olhão, Faro.
More than 840 birds of birds were detected in Europe, between October 2024 and January 2025, especially in Hungary and Italy.
The flu flu has affected more than 60 mammalian species in eight years, including dogs, cats, lions and pigs.
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