The Espirito Santo government has banned indefinitely access to the Tres Illas archipelago and the other islands of the APA (Environmental Protection Area) of Setiba, located in the municipalities of Guarapari and Vila Velha, Vitoria metropolitan area. The measure was taken in response to reported cases of bird flu in the state and covers a total of eight islands.

Brazil is in a state of emergency in order to prevent contact of the disease with commercial birds. Photo: Ernesto Benavidez/AFP

The Three Islands archipelago consists of five islands: Kitongo, Cambayan, Guanchumbas, Leste Oeste and Guararema. In other areas of the APA are the islands of Francisco Vaz, Toaninha and Alacaeira.

The joint ruling of the State Secretariat for Environment and Water Resources and the State Institute for Environment and Water Resources was published this Thursday (8) in a supplementary issue of the Official State Gazette.

Espirito Santo is the state with the highest number of avian influenza cases in the country, with 20 confirmed outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1). Before that, Brazil had never registered cases of the disease on its territory.

A total of 30 outbreaks have already been confirmed among wild birds in the states of Espirito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Sao Paulo and Bahia. Most of them are in birds of the species Thalass acuflavidus (popular name thirty reis de bando) and thalasseus maximus (thirty reales).

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock has provided a team for consultation on confirmed, rejected and under investigation cases. The platform can be accessed by anyone and will be updated twice a day, at 13:00 and 19:00.

This week, the federal government also opened a 200 million reais emergency loan to Mapa to fight bird flu.

The ministry said that in connection with the emergency zoosanitary situation introduced in the country, control and containment measures will be strengthened to prevent the spread of the disease to subsistence and industrial poultry farming, as well as to preserve the fauna and human health.

The orientation of Mapa is that the public does not collect the birds they find, sick or dead, but call the nearest veterinary service. However, according to the government, Brazil’s status as highly pathogenic avian influenza free country before the World Organization for Animal Health has not changed, as there is no commercial production data.

Disease

Avian influenza is a highly contagious viral disease that primarily affects domestic and wild birds. It is mainly characterized by high bird mortality, which may be accompanied by clinical signs such as staggering gait, torticollis, respiratory distress and diarrhoea.

The H5N1 virus does not infect humans as easily, but a recent rise in cases is putting health authorities around the world on high alert. Human infection can occur through contact with infected birds, dead or alive, or in environments contaminated with respiratory secretions, blood, faeces, and other fluids from the slaughter of birds.

The risk of transmission to humans through properly cooked and well-prepared food is also very low. In addition, person-to-person transmission is not sustained, meaning that the virus does not spread easily from person to person at this point in time.

Although rare, avian influenza in humans can be serious, with a high mortality rate. The Butantan Institute in São Paulo has begun developing a vaccine against the disease. []due to fears that it could become a new pandemic.