Ecuador has been developing its banana activity since 2019 with a latent risk of entry Fusarium Race 4, a fungus already present in Colombia, Peru and Venezuela, in the region; and since November, it has been fighting bird flu, which cost more than a million birds. Patricio Almeida, CEO of Agrocalidad, explains how they fight against these two fronts, so that one pest does not advance and the other enters.

How did the process of starting the bird flu vaccination go?

At the end of November, the first case of bird flu was discovered, and we did not have the vaccine available for the country because the decision to introduce the vaccine must be very well planned and agreed upon. In the Poultry Subcommittee of the National Poultry Commission, space has been created for the public, private, academic and trade union sectors to decide on vaccination, and this is an additional strategy that has been embedded in the country to deal with the flu that has hit us very hard, especially in Sierra in poultry farming.

2.7 million birds were vaccinated against bird flu in the first month, almost half in Tungurahua province

How many birds were affected by bird flu?

Between mortality from disease (90%) and eradication (10%), 1,200,000 birds died.

And how many have been vaccinated to date?

We have already reached 4 million vaccinated birds, we have vaccines in the country, the vaccines are coming from companies that are qualified to bring them, this is done by open invitation, the companies bring the vaccines and the farmer uses the vaccines that are available and the disease is contained in focal and perifocal areas of positive cases that have appeared.

How many birds will be vaccinated in total?

In the first phase, which is focus and perifocus, there are about 65 farms in the Sierra area, others are joining because they are long-lived poultry farms, they are breeders, those who have been in production for a long time are more sensitive and vulnerable, they will enter the later scheme , but we predict that close to 4 million will be vaccinated in this first phase. There are two doses, now we are in the first dose, which is 4 million, and we are adding reinforcements to the other 4 million.

And how many stages will there be in total?

Let’s measure. Epidemiological dynamics will tell us how to act, but for now, those 4 million susceptible populations have been identified, but as events unfold, we will see if they will spread or if we will stop for a moment.

What does the current epidemiological dynamics say?

I think that, as the disease behaved, some additional farms will be installed, especially long-lived birds, and we will evaluate this with the Poultry Subcommittee in the coming days.

Another pest that keeps Ecuador on guard is Fusarium Race 4. Is Ecuador still fungus free?

Ecuador is still free, we will try to keep it that way, the idea is to delay entry as long as possible. The epidemiological dynamics of the fungus is very aggressive and the mobility is very wide, it is very difficult, but we will try to exclude it from entering our borders.

What is the reason for Ecuador to continue without fungi, but with infected neighbors?

Ecuador is the country of the four that prepared the most and the best to face the Fusarium. First, because of the need to defend one of the most important industries in the country. Preventive plans started working a long time ago and it takes at least ten years for preventive practices and activities in the region, which allows for a delay in entry.

Ecuador has done its homework, we are preparing the Agency. We currently have the best analytical capacity in the region to process 1000 samples per day.

From $0.08 to $0.13 per box of bananas, measures to prevent the entry of Fusarium Race 4 add to the cost of production.

Talk about delaying entry. What will happen the day the mushroom is discovered in Ecuador?

When it arrived in the country, we would activate the level of containment. The National Institute for Agricultural Research (Iniap) is preparing, Espol with CIBE (Biotechnological Research Center of Ecuador), they are doing a great job testing new materials, the private sector also requires more materials, it has to be done with caution, they have to come from countries where there is no plagues; materials located in Ecuador meet these conditions and companies wishing to bring them must do so in the same manner.

How much does such prevention cost Ecuador?

We currently have an investment project exclusively for Fusarium Race 4 ranges, depending on the activities, between 3.5 and 5 million dollars.

What do they do with these resources?

We have a lot of people on the field. The most effective way to deal with a possible case is early identification, and this involves people in the field taking samples, seeing associated symptoms and analyzing them in a laboratory. Most resources will always be focused on this. We also have drones flying over the area to have more surveillance coverage.

if it arrives Fusarium Will that budget increase?

Go up as needed. We have recent experience with avian influenza, we have another project dealing with the animal side and these resources have been used to deal with emergencies. So far, we have invested close to $2.5 million in emergency response.

Bird flu and Fusarium These are the two plagues that keep Agrocalidad busy.

There are many of them, but they are in danger of the flu because we are in a state of crisis, its presence has already been detected and we must do our best not to spread it, and Fusarium so it doesn’t come in