The deadline for livestock farmers in Rio Grande do Sul to vaccinate their herd against foot-and-mouth disease ends this Friday (31). Until this Monday (27), the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development (Seapdr) recorded in its systems the vaccination of 65% from the herd of 12.5 million heads, including cattle and buffaloes. The expectation is to achieve vaccination coverage greater than 90%, and this year the vaccine has undergone changes in its formulation, with a reduction in the application dosage from 5ml to 2ml.
“We are working intensely to reach the goal and guarantee once again that our State is free from this serious disease”, says Secretary Covatti Filho.
Producers must purchase the doses necessary to vaccinate their entire herd from agricultural houses accredited by Seapdr. They must then prove vaccination by presenting the purchase invoice and declaring the number of vaccinated animals, at the Agricultural Defense inspectorates or offices.
The maximum deadline for proving vaccination is five working days after the end of the stage, that is, the deadline ends on June 7th. Those who do not prove vaccination will be fined, as determined by State Decree 52,434/2015, and will have their property closed until the procedures are regularized.
According to the Department of Agricultural Defense of Seapdr, the vaccine against foot-and-mouth disease this year underwent changes in its formulation, with a reduction in the application dosage, from 5 to 2 ml, and became bivalent, with protection against type A and O. The presentations sold also changed to 15 and 50 doses.
Foot-and-mouth disease is a viral disease, highly contagious and rapidly spreading, with economic and social impacts in the places where it occurs. The last outbreaks of the disease in the State occurred in 2000 and 2001 and resulted in serious economic losses, such as the sacrifice and slaughter of approximately 29 thousand animals and expenditure of U$$ 25 million in direct costs, in addition to economic losses generated by the impediment of national trade and international products of animal and vegetable origin. In 2018, both vaccination stages, in May and November, reached 97% coverage.
