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Mercosur to receive US$500,000 to fight bird flu
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) signed a US$500,000
agreement with the countries of the Mercosur (the economic bloc that includes
Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) aimed at improving facilities for
detecting avian influenza.
The funds are intended to help prepare laboratories in Brazil, Bolivia,
Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina for bird
flu diagnosis.
One of the main targets is the birds that arrive at different seasons of the
year, in migratory cycles, according to the director general of the FAO Regional Office for Latin
America and the Caribbean, José Graziano.
In an interview with Agência Brasil, the official Brazilian government news
agency, Graziano said that the funding had been provided because "there are 5
billion birds on the continent and it is the worlds largest producer of white
birds … a bird flu outbreak in any of the countries here would bring
considerable economic losses, mainly to the smaller
countries".
Editor WorldPoultry
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