The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Natural Environment of the Junta de Extremadura has specified that the positive brucellosis confirmed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food in a farm in Alburquerque (Badajoz) does not imply the emergence of a fifth focus of the disease.
According to the Junta, the affected farm is located next to the farms where cases had already been diagnosed, so it is integrated into the same focus that has reached several livestock farms bordering Portugal.
The ministry recalls that, after the genetic analysis of the bacteria causing the disease, it was verified "with certainty" that the origin of this focus of brucellosis "was in Portugal."
To ensure the absence of the disease and verify the "complete eradication" of the focus, the Animal Health Service is carrying out a second brucellosis control in all the farms and in all the animals located within a radius of 10 kilometers.
This review was already carried out last summer and is expected to conclude next week, according to the regional Administration in a press release.
As a result of this second control, the farm now analyzed has tested "positive" for the disease. Despite this, the Junta emphasizes that "this is not a new focus, as the farm is located next to those that previously tested positive within the same affected area."
Consequently, and applying the same protocol as in previous cases, the "sanitary emptying" of the farm will be carried out to ensure the "definitive eradication" of the focus.