Brazil finds bird flu in wild bird, investigates potential case on commercial farm

Brazil identified fresh bird flu cases in wild animals, which it said should not have any commercial impact, and is investigating a new potential case on a commercial farm, Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro said on Tuesday.

Brazil, the world's largest chicken exporter, earlier this month identified a bird flu outbreak on a commercial farm in the southern city of Montenegro, triggering both nationwide and regional trade bans from dozens of countries.

The new case on wild birds happened in the city of Mateus Leme, located in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, data in the Agriculture Ministry's website showed.

Favaro told a Senate hearing that the case should be treated as something "natural", since Brazil is rich in migratory birds, which generally transmit viruses.

The minister also said that authorities were investigating a potential new case on a commercial flock in the Brazilian southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, the same state where the Montenegro outbreak had happened.

The case under investigation was from a commercial farm in the city of Anta Gorda, where Brazil identified an outbreak of Newcastle disease on a poultry farm last year.

Brazil is currently investigating about a dozen of potential outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian flu, but only two, including the one in Anta Gorda, are on commercial farms, data from the ministry showed.

Preliminary tests had already indicated a negative result for a case under investigation on a commercial farm in the northern state of Tocantins.