Minas Gerais conducts training against foot-and-mouth disease; learn more

The achievement of the status of a foot-and-mouth disease-free nation without vaccination, granted by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), has consolidated Brazilian livestock. To maintain this position, surveillance protocols are crucial, and the state of Minas Gerais (MG) is at the forefront of these efforts. The Minas Gerais Institute of Livestock (IMA) organized an extensive foot-and-mouth disease outbreak response simulation exercise in the Montes Claros region. The training, the largest of its kind in Brazil and the first held in MG, mobilized around 160 IMA employees and 250 professionals from 21 Brazilian states, as well as representatives from Panama. The objective is to practically train the response to a real outbreak, applying biosecurity protocols, disinfecting vehicles, controlling animal traffic, and collecting samples for diagnosis. These prevention actions are fundamental to avoid the return of the disease, which, if it reappears, would result in an ...