To prevent the entry and spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5, the National Agri-Food Health and Quality Service (SENASA) continues with epidemiological surveillance actions in backyard poultry (domestic), located in different localities in the province of Buenos Aires.
Tasks were carried out in San Andrés de Giles, Mercedes, Luján, Suipacha, and San Antonio de Areco, where strategically selected premises were inspected, according to a risk-based matrix. Samples were taken from sentinel birds there, with the aim of corroborating the absence of viral circulation among the birds in the area.
These actions are part of an important network of preventive tasks carried out throughout the country, with the purpose of safeguarding the health of birds and nearby poultry establishments, since backyard premises with birds in contact with wild specimens and scarce biosecurity measures can be a source of infection and spread of HPAI.
Likewise, in each of these inspections, agents from the SENASA North Buenos Aires Regional Center provided health information to families to learn about symptoms compatible with the disease and the importance of early notification, strengthen care, proper management of their birds and disinfection of facilities, and improve access controls to the coop to prevent the entry of wild birds, the main reservoirs of the virus.
It is important to highlight that avian influenza is a disease that is not transmitted to people through the consumption of eggs and poultry meat and that, currently, Argentina maintains the sanitary status of an HPAI-free country, self-declared before the World Organisation for Animal Health (OMSA).
The free status is also supported by active epidemiological surveillance implemented in commercial farms, where the private sector plays a substantial role with serological sampling in poultry establishments (meat, egg, and genetic production) and purebred birds, according to Resolution N.° 468/2025.
It is reminded that, upon observing birds with neurological, nervous, and digestive signs or a high mortality rate, it is essential to immediately notify SENASA through:
