CSF Brazil: Outbreak outside the free zone in Ceará

The city of Marco is about 900 km from the state of Bahia and 1,000 km from the state of Tocantins, the closest states within the Brazilian CSF’s free zone.

The Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA) reported the case to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), which published an official bulletin on the matter last Monday.

A pig suffering from CSF. – Photo: Stan Done

CSF, also known as pig cholera, is a viral disease that has a high contamination rate and is often fatal to pigs and wild boars. The disease poses no threat to human health. In clinical symptoms, it resembles its namesake African swine fever, although the viruses are completely different.

Measures to prevent the spread of diseases

Nelson Pinto, Minister of Health for the City of Marco, said the Department and the Municipal Department for Agriculture and Economic Development have taken steps to prevent the spread of disease.

“The endemic disease control agents blocked the site after the outbreak was registered to prevent new cases here and in the region,” said Nelson.

Measures to fight the virus began on Monday October 11th. According to the OIE, CSF cases were registered in 9 animals in a back yard. Of these, 8 pigs died and 1 had to be killed. The update reads: “Investigations are still ongoing to identify the origin and the epidemiological routes. The eradication measures are implemented by slaughtering these animals and identifying contacts. “

Not part of the CSF free zone

Ceará is not part of Brazil’s CSF Free Zone, which consists of 15 states plus the federal district. No registered cases of illness have been recorded in these areas since January 1998. As shown in Figure 1, these are Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Goiás, Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, Bahia, Sergipe, Tocantins, Rondônia and acre.