2 Brazil Cattle Regions Declared Disease-Free

Two Brazilian cattle-ranching states were declared free of hoof-and-mouth disease, the first step toward building what Brazil hopes will be a $1.5-billion export industry. The Paris-based Office of Epizooitics, an international animal-disease agency, declared the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina disease-free. The two states are the nation’s principal producers of lean, grass-fed beef. Brazil has the world’s biggest cattle herd at 160 million head, and in 1997, the nation exported 400,000 tons. “By 2007, the disease should be completely eradicated from the entire national cow herd,” said Brazilian Agriculture Minister Francisco Turra. The country is awaiting approval of a $200-million loan from the World Bank to meet that goal, primarily to finance vaccinations for hoof-and-mouth disease, he said. The ministry said the next step will be to eradicate the disease in Parana, Sao Paulo, Goias, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul states, where 100 million head of cattle are raised every year. Officials expect combined exports of fresh and processed meat to more than double in the next 10 years, an increase that could generate $1.5 billion at today’s prices.