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Avian influenza causes animal deaths, a decrease in supply and an increase in prices, costs and a greater requirement for human capital.
Although Senasica resolves the outbreaks, the culture of prevention through health has been forgotten.
Until now, AMLO’s anti-inflation program seems to stop the growth of the prices of poultry products.
In the Mexican diet, the consumption of poultry products is of great importance. Until 2019, in Mexico a consumption of 28.59 kg per capita and a consumption per inhabitant of 33.12 kg was registered, indicates the National Union of Poultry Farmers (UNA); however, outbreaks of influenza or avian influenza in the country have been present since 1993 and an outbreak among birds impacts the sector by increasing prices, production costs, decreasing supply and human capital.
In May 1994, avian influenza H5N2 was confirmed in the country and that same year caused losses of millions of dollars and was eradicated in 1995. It was not until June 2012 that a new subtype AH7N3 was identified in commercial laying birds in the area of Jalisco, Mexico, assures the National Service of Health, Safety and Food Quality (Senasica).
From that year to 2019, the virus that is transmitted by direct contact between infected birds has been recorded more frequently in the states of Jalisco, Guanajuato, QuerétaroPuebla, Aguascalientes, Puebla, Hidalgo, State of Mexico, Tlaxcala and Oaxaca.
The last event registered by Senasica had its time in April 2019 and was closed in January 2020, before the pandemic. Currently, avian influenza is controlled with surveillance actions by authorities and its existence is identified with mild signs or in its severe form, that is, from reduced egg production to prostration, sudden drop in egg reproduction or production without shell, cough, sneezing, nervousness and in its extreme case, death.
Consumption of chicken, egg and turkey, the most dynamic part of the poultry industry in the country
According to the UNA, poultry production is the most dynamic livestock activity in the country and positions the nation in sixth place for chicken production internationally. The activity represents 63.3 percent of production and foods such as chicken, egg, turkey make up 6 out of every 10 kg.
It is estimated that the activity generated one million 288 my jobs: one million 73 thousand indirect and 215 thousand direct for 2020.
At the national level, the poultry flock was made up of 163.3 million laying hens, 310 million chickens and 459 thousand turkeys per cycle. With this, 3 million 550 thousand tons of chicken meat were produced in 2020.
Veracruz, Aguascalientes, Querétaro, La Laguna (Coahuila and Durango), Jalisco, Puebla, Chiapas and Guanajuato were the states with the highest production.
The industry grows year after year and from 2009 to 2019 it has had an Annual Average Growth Rate of 1.81 percent.
On the side of the egg Mexico ranks first in per-capita consumption of fresh eggs worldwide: “andhe egg continues to be the main protein in the pyramidal base of Mexican society”, pointed out Humberto Martínez Director of Grupo Rosmar.
Effects of avian influenza on the consumption of chicken, egg and turkey in Mexico
In May of this year, Senasica reported an outbreak of avian influenza in Coahuila and Durango and the results were catastrophic 15 days after the spread of the disease: 731 thousand 081 birds were slaughtered, that is, 44 of the 242 units inspected.
The direct consequence from the perspective of Humberto Martínez, Director of Grupo Rosmar, is the decrease in the supply of eggs and chicken in the market.
“Killing millions of birds and raising the prices of these products that are in the basic basket and in any table of each Mexican, in addition to having to bring products from other countries and sources of employment are lost,” he said.
Although there are great risks of rising prices in the industry, the Achilles’ heel of avian influenza outbreaks lies in not making consumers sickr. For this reason, producers have to report to Senasica the death of birds in the region and immediately the General Directorate of Animal Health must determine and identify a possible virus, to launch an emergency operation, contain the outbreak and disinfect the area and supervise that contaminated products and by-products do not leave the farms.
With the outbreak of influenza in the aforementioned states, the United States-Mexico Commission for the Prevention of Foot-and-Mouth Disease and Other Exotic Animal Diseases (CPA) of the Senasica activated emergency protocols.
Nevertheless, according to the Director of Grupo Rosmar, the authorities should be paying more attention to the facts and provide rather than react.
Prevention culture with health against bird flu vaccines
Shortages of agricultural products can be prevented with the application of biosafety and animal health systems, assured Humberto Martínez, Director of Grupo Rosmar. This, in order to “maintain better prices, sources of employment and generate a stronger poultry industry in the country.”
From the vision of the director of Grupo Rosmar, the application of vaccines to prevent avian influenza is a reaction of the industry that justifies the unsanitary conditions in which the birds are found.
“The industry of Veterinary Zoologists (MVZ they want to correct everything with vaccines, when that costs 5 or 10 times more than preventing it through health”.
As a result, poultry farmers pay millions of pesos to solve crises and sooner or later the results of mismanagement are reflected in prices, for example, in May 2022, chicken reached its highest price in two decades due to the increase production costs (fuel and electricity) and an outbreak of avian influenza in the United States.
According to the National Information and Market Integration System (SNIIM), Bachoco chicken registered a price of 63.64 per kilogram and Peregrino chicken decreased by a few cents, standing at 63.41 pesos.
And although the price may increase due to the conditions in which the poultry industry is operating, the truth is that chicken was included in the Package Against Inflation and Scarcity (PACIC) promoted by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) with the in order to “control” inflation, since it is a primary product for Mexicans.
“The economic impact on the most vulnerable is something that should not be made public”, concluded the Director of Grupo Rosmar.