A vaccination campaign against foot-and-mouth disease has started in Ecuador

Starting this Wednesday, May 17, for 45 days, 1,200 members of the brigade will tour the country in the 2023 FMD vaccination campaign, which is expected to vaccinate more than 4.6 million cattle and buffalo.

The campaign, which will last until June 30, is in charge of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), through the Agency for Phytosanitary and Zoosanitary Regulation and Control (Agrocalidad).

Ecuador exported pork for the first time and does not rule out being a beef supplier from 2025.

“For more than 140 months, there has been no outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, which has made it possible to raise healthy cattle that give quality meat and milk, for consumption in Ecuador and the world,” said the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Eduardo Izaguirre. , who was present during the inauguration of the campaign in Quito.

In 2022, 4,796,946 animals were vaccinated, which is 103.67% in the whole country, where 284,705 farmers participated, according to Agrocalidad data, whose executive director, Patricia Almeida, highlighted this type of action to maintain the country’s status as free from smallpox mouth disease.

“These actions are vital to boost livestock production and strengthen market opening, as well as to maintain the foot-and-mouth disease-free status we have had since 2015, awarded by the World Organization for Animal Health OMSA,” he said. Almeida.

MAG has allocated $3 million to deal with emergency cases of agricultural losses due to rains

At the end of 2022, the Agency conducted sampling of cattle to determine the non-circulation of the foot-and-mouth disease virus in the northern part of the country (Esmeraldas, Carchi, Imbabura and Sucumbíos), accompanied by experts from the Pan American Center for Foot and Mouth Disease, a scientific center of the Veterinary Unit for Public Health of the Pan American Health Organization (Panaftosa); the results of which were Absence of viral circulation in this area.