Bird flu: H5N1 virus in Brazil wild birds prompts animal health emergency

Health declaration to last 180 days, as world’s biggest exporter of chicken meat detects virus for first time ever

Brazil has declared a state of animal health emergency for 180 days in response to its first ever detection of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus in wild birds.

Brazil – the world’s biggest chicken meat exporter with US$9.7bn in sales in 2022 – has so far confirmed eight cases of the H5N1 in wild birds, including seven in Espirito Santo state and one in Rio de Janeiro state.