. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/GEN/689 
7 April 2006 
 
 (06-1653) 
Committee on Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
 
 
 
HEALTH STATUS REPORT 
 
Communication from Paraguay  
 
 
 The following communication, received on 31 Marc h 2006, is being circulated at the request 
of the delegation of Paraguay.  
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I. BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY 
1. Since 1996 Paraguay has maintained a preventiv e epidemiological surveillance programme in 
accordance with OIE standards to  prevent the entry of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).  
Continued surveillance enabled us, in the year 2000,  to gain the status of Geographical BSE Risk 1 
Country, granted by the Scientific Committee of the European Communities and renewed in 
subsequent years. 
2. In February 2005, the National Animal Quality  and Health Service (SENACSA) submitted to 
the OIE the relevant documentation to request recognition as a BSE free country. 
3. On 27 February of this year, the OIE informed the Official Service that the OIE Scientific 
Commission for Animal Diseases, during its meeting of 16 – 20 January, had accepted the Ad Hoc 
Group's recommendation and proposed to the Inte rnational Committee that it grant Paraguay the 
status of "BSE Provisionally Free Country" in acco rdance with Article 2.3.13.4 of the Terrestrial 
Animal Health Code. 
4. This proposal will be submitted to the next OI E meeting in May of this year, for approval. 
II. AVIAN INFLUENZA 
5. Paraguay's SENACSA has implemented the Natio nal and Surveillance and Prevention Plan 
for avian influenza, taking as its reference th e project presented by the Permanent Veterinary 
Committee on regional strategies for this disease, and following the guidelines provided by 
international bodies. 
6. To that end, diagnostic techniques were developed in the SENACSA laboratory and 
serological checks are being carried out to conf irm the absence of the disease in the country. 
7. As part of this programme, a national sampli ng was carried out in 2005, involving a total of 
5,397 samples, belonging to 394 owners.  All th e samples tested negativ e to avian influenza. G/SPS/GEN/689 
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  8. Moreover, restrictions have been placed on bird imports and products at risk from avian 
influenza from countries affected by the disease. 
III. FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE 
9. The National Programme for the Eradication of Foot and Mouth Disease began in 1992.  In 
1997 Paraguay obtained from the OIE the certificati on of "foot and mouth disease free country with 
vaccination", a status that was renewed annually until 2002, when it was suspended following the 
reintroduction of the disease into the Corpus Chri sti district of the Department of Canindeyú. 
10. In May 2005, Paraguay regained from the OIE the status of "foot and mouth disease free 
country with vaccination" that it had lost after the events in Canindeyú and Pozo Hondo in July 2003. 
11. Paraguay's health status has remained stab le, thanks to the timely and efficient  
implementation of the "Animal Health Warning and Emergency Programme", coupled with the 
"Emergency Strategic Vaccination Plans" in the wake  of the events that occu rred in the border areas, 
Matto Grosso do Sul and Parana, Brazil (October 2005) and Corrientes, Argentina (February 2006). 
12. Serology is being carried out on cattle aged under 18 months in the perifocal area, in 
Paraguayan territory adjoining the area of the outbr eak in Matto Grosso do Sul, Brazil, in order to 
technically rule out the possibility of viral circulation. 
IV. TRACEABILITY 
13. In January of this year the Traceability Sy stem of Paraguay (SITRAP) was introduced, 
incorporating the registration of livestock establishm ents and the control of the movement of animals 
and products.  This will help to  improve the efficiency and effec tiveness of traceability and thus make 
it easier to respond to health emergencies and to deal with disease control and the certification of 
exports. 
 
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