Brazil: The National Cattle and Buffalo Traceability Plan promises advances in herd health

The National Plan for Individual Identification of Cattle and Buffalo (PNIB), launched last Tuesday (17) by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa), marks a new milestone in the health control of Brazilian livestock. According to José Mário Schreiner, vice president of the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA), the initiative represents a significant advance for the country's health security, promoting greater efficiency in the identification and response to possible diseases. The PNIB foresees the implementation of an individual identification system for cattle and buffaloes with the main objective of strengthening the response capacity in health emergencies, especially in a scenario where vaccination against foot-and-mouth disease is being withdrawn. The proposal includes the use of electronic elements, such as earrings or ear buttons, which assign each animal a unique 15-digit number in ISO 076 format. Implementation will occur over eight years. In ...