Brazil, one of the world's top producers and exporters of poultry, has confirmed its first bird flu outbreak on a commercial farm.  

The highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza, H5N1, was detected at a facility in Montenegro in Rio Grande do Sul, according to Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA).  

The ministry said it had implemented containment measures. “These efforts are aimed at eliminating the outbreak, safeguarding the productivity of Brazil’s poultry sector, and ensuring the continued supply of safe, high-quality food to the population,” MAPA said in a statement issued on Friday (16 May).

Poultry export restrictions are determined by international health certificate protocols, with some of Brazil's trade deals applying countrywide restrictions, while others allow for regionalised responses based on the location of an outbreak.

China and the EU have suspended poultry imports from Brazil. However, countries including Japan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the Philippines have accepted a regional approach, permitting imports from unaffected areas, MAPA said. 

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) ranks Brazil as the world’s second-largest chicken meat producer, after the US, and the largest exporter.  

MAPA stressed that avian influenza is not transmitted through the consumption of poultry meat or eggs.  

“The risk of human infection is low and is generally associated with direct, prolonged contact with infected birds, whether alive or dead,” the Brazilian ministry said.