The bird flu vaccination process, which began on March 3, will celebrate its first eight days this Friday, March 10.

According to the figures of the Agency for Phytosanitary and Zoosanitary Regulation and Control (Agrocalidad), this period will end with 662,850 birds vaccinated on 16 farms in the provinces of Pichincha, Cotopaxi and Tungurahua.

The birds vaccinated so far are close to the Agency’s projections, which in this first phase wants to vaccinate 757,818 birds.

About 400,000 birds have been vaccinated against bird flu, according to the egg producers’ union

The disease was first detected in a poultry farm in Cotopaxi at the end of November 2022; and from that date to last February, 1,193,491 birds were infected on farms in five provinces of the Sierra region, where 15 outbreaks of the virus were detected: 9 in Cotopaxi, 7 in Tungurahua, 2 in Bolívar, and Pichincha and Azuay with a farm in each province.

“So far (Wednesday, March 8), vaccination has been carried out in five farms in the provinces of Pichincha, Cotopaxi and Tungurahua, immunizing a total of 353,300 birds. In the week from March 6 to 10, 11 farms are being vaccinated, where approximately 309,550 birds have already been immunized,” the Agency described in detail to the newspaper EL UNIVERSO.

Meanwhile, as for the farms suitable for vaccination, which were 35 at the beginning of the process, they have already increased to 50 after the first eight days, and are expected to increase to more as they comply with biosecurity measures, according to Agrocalidad.

“At the moment, a total of 50 farms have been identified that comply with biosecurity measures, in the same way, during these weeks, work continues on different farms, to implement biosecurity measures and as the owners respect this parameter, they are included in the vaccination process,” they reported. from the Agency.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Eduardo Izaguirre, highlighted the importance of vaccines and biosecurity protocols in place to prevent the spread of the disease.

“From the beginning, we worked on a blockade, an epidemiological fence, to prevent the spread of the infection. We had to bring vaccines because vaccines are the ones that can guarantee that this will not spread to larger amounts at the level of prevention,” Minister Izaguirre explained in a radio interview this week.

Izaguirre also highlighted the joint work between Agrocalidado and the poultry sector. “Agrocalidad does not work alone, I work with a committee made up of actors in the chain precisely to try to have all the inputs and to make the decisions as correct as possible,” said the official.

The committee referred to by the minister is the Technical Subcommittee of the National Poultry Breeding Commission, which is in charge of coordinating actions against bird flu in the country, and is made up of representatives of the National Poultry Farmers Corporation (Conave), the Union of Egg Producers (Uniproh), the Association of Poultry Breeders Cotaló (Asavico), Association of Veterinarians of Ecuador (Amevea-E), Central University, University of San Francisco de Quito, Undersecretary for Livestock Production of MAG and Agency for Regulation and Agro-Quality.

Poultry sector achieves vaccination against bird flu with lower production and consumption of eggs, but with an increase in chicken meat

Meanwhile, regarding the problem that occurred on the property in Cotopaxi, where the farm was repopulated with 3,000 without completing the disinfection process, the Agency reported that an administrative procedure had begun to comply with the sanitary measure and thus avoid a possible spread. from illness.

“At the moment, communication channels are open to achieve compliance with the sanitary measures established to protect the sanitary status of the poultry sector and the food sovereignty of the country,” Agrocalidad said, adding that a dialogue was held with farm owners to make public the risk posed by not acting in accordance with the law and technical standards. In addition, workshops are held with producers from the affected provinces.

Uniproh, for its part, issued a statement addressed to poultry farmers in which it calls on them to comply with Agrocalidad regulations. “This is the first time we have encountered a situation like this, which is why this new regulation must be applied at all times, as non-compliance would seriously jeopardize production, not only for those who do not comply but for the poultry industry worldwide. the country”, warned the trade union.

According to Conave data, the sector produced 3.812 million eggs in 2022, or 10.4 million eggs per day; and consumption per capita is 212 eggs per year.