SAO PAULO, Oct 20 (Reuters) – Mexico has suspended poultry imports from Brazil following an outbreak of Newcastle disease in the southern state of Santa Catarina, the Mexican Agriculture Ministry said in a statement late on Monday.
The restrictions cover chicken meat, poultry offal, fertile eggs, chicks up to three days old, ornamental and song birds, birds of prey, and companion birds, the ministry said.
• Newcastle is a highly contagious and viral disease affecting birds, like avian flu
• Brazil, the world’s largest chicken meat exporter, reported a case of the disease at a turkey farm in Santa Catarina
• “The measure was taken with the aim of protecting domestic poultry production, given that Mexico is a country free from Newcastle disease,” the Mexican government said
• Brazil has been Mexico’s second-largest chicken meat supplier since 2022, according to a 2025 report by Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry
• Mexico was also the seventh-largest importer of Brazilian chicken meat last year, according to meat lobby ABPA
• In May 2025, Mexico closed its market to Brazilian poultry products following the notification of a bird flu case, but later reopened it once the sanitary risk had eased
(Reporting by Isabel Teles; Editing by Gabriel Araujo)
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