Argentina: Chicken can be much more expensive or much cheaper, depending on where you live

Argentina has now been removed from international poultry markets after highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was detected in commercial poultry flocks. The country exports 185,000 tons of poultry meat annually, worth about $350 million, and while this may seem small compared to neighboring Brazil's exports (4.85 million tons), Argentina is ranked as the eighth largest poultry exporter in the world. Stopped exports therefore not only have local effects. The appearance of the virus was first reported in mid-February in the South American country, and since then 25 cases have been reported. At that time, as in neighboring countries, highly pathogenic avian influenza infection was detected only in wild birds, but now the virus has also appeared on commercial chicken farms. The first case was in the Rio Negro province of northern Patagonia, an area without significant poultry production. Since then, however, the virus has spread north, appearing in a commercial farm and a backyard ...