4M vaccine doses to arrive in Ecuador to fight off bird flu outbreak

Quito, Feb 22 (Prensa Latina) Ecuador´s Agency of Regulation and Phytosanitary and Zoosanitary Control (AGROCALIDAD) on Wednesday confirmed the arrival of four million doses of vaccines against bird flu.

February 22, 2023
18:10

Since 2022, Ecuadorean authorities detected several outbreaks in the provinces of Pichincha, Cotopaxi, Bolivar and Tungurahua.

During first phase, AGROCALIDAD will allocate the new vaccine doses to the farms where bird flu cases were reported.

In a press release, AGROCALIDAD assured the new vaccine is safe and implies no risk for humans.

Plus, AGROCALIDAD believes the new measure helps to reduce mortality rate of infected birds 80 to 40%.

Bird flu virus has been present in Ecuador since end-November 2022. To date, about 1.2 million birds have died or have been culled.

In January, local authorities reported the first case of human transmission in a minor, who was probably infected by direct contact with backyard poultry in the province of Bolivar.

According to the World Organization for Animal Health, bird flu virus is also affecting in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile, among others.

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