Swine flu outbreak in Piauí

Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture confirmed finding strains of “classical swine flu” in the municipality of Lagoa do Piauí in Piauí state this week. The case occurred on a non-commercial farm resulting in the death of seven piglets, leading the municipality to declare an animal health emergency. The state of Piauí has since informed that specific measures have been taken to contain and eliminate the viral agent to prevent spread to other areas of the state.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the outbreak occurred outside the classical swine flu free zone recognized by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). This means there is no risk that the country will lose its international recognition of being disease free. Since October 2018, 44 other outbreaks of classical swine flu have been confirmed in Ceará, also in areas that are not part of Brazil’s classical swine flu free zone.

Although it is unlikely to affect exports now, the classical swine flu cases may raise concerns to pork producers in the country, especially since Brazil’s pork exports took off earlier this year due to increased demands from China. The Asian country’s swine flu outbreak has forced China to resort to increasing imports to meet the country’s growing pork appetite.

Animal Protein Association (ABPA) reported the country’s pork shipments reached 54,800 tons in March, down 5.6% in the same month year-on-year, according to DatamarNews. Meanwhile, the State of Santa Catarina’s pork exports reached 29,700 tons in March, up 16.2% compared to the same month last year. The state earned 13.4% more in sales revenue at US$57.8m in March, year-on-year, according to the Santa Catarina State Department of Agriculture. China imported the bulk of the state’s pork, at 12,000 tons or 40% of the state’s export volume.

The following DataLiner graph shows Santa Catarina’s total pork exports with all five ports combined (Imbituba, Itajaí, Itapoá, Navegantes, and São Francisco do Sul):

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