Brazil halts some poultry exports after Newcastle disease case, lobby says

By Ana Mano

SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazil's agriculture ministry has voluntarily halted poultry exports to some countries after a case of Newcastle disease was detected in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, meat lobby ABPA said on Friday.

The ministry's inspections department sent a letter to slaughterhouses informing them of the measure, newspaper Estadao reported.

Earlier in the day, the ministry declared an animal health emergency in Brazil's southernmost state due to the detection of the disease.

Authorities are trying to contain an outbreak after around 7,000 birds perished on a small property where the disease was detected, representing half the flock.

From a sample of 12 birds from the flock, investigators found at least one positive case for Newcastle, a viral disease affecting birds, in the state, ABPA said in a press conference.

The agriculture ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The last confirmed cases of Newcastle disease in Brazil occurred in 2006 in subsistence birds in the states of Amazonas, Mato Grosso and Rio Grande do Sul, according to the agriculture ministry. Subsistence birds meet a family's need for food and are not kept for trade.

Newcastle causes respiratory problems in birds and sometimes leads to death. Its notification is mandatory under guidelines from the World Organisation for Animal Health.

Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro had previously said that outbreaks of Newcastle disease could trigger trade bans.

(Reporting by Ana Mano, Luana Maria Benedito and Leticia Fucuchima; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Rod Nickel and Aurora Ellis)