Uruguay Halts Brazil Poultry on Bird Disease

Uruguay has suspended the entry and transit of birds, poultry products and by-products from Brazil after Brazil confirmed Newcastle disease on a turkey farm in Santa Catarina, in a measure with no end date.

Uruguay’s agriculture ministry has suspended the entry and transit through the country of birds susceptible to Newcastle disease, and of their products and by-products, coming from Brazil. The measure, Resolution 244/2026 of the ministry’s livestock services directorate, is dated Thursday 22 October and was announced on Friday 23 October.

The trigger was Brazil’s confirmation on Sunday 18 October of the disease on a commercial turkey farm in Nova Itaberaba, in the state of Santa Catarina, and Uruguay says it has not diagnosed the virus in poultry since 1984. The decision matters beyond Uruguay because Brazil is the world’s largest chicken exporter, according to US Agriculture Department figures, and US producers compete with it.

The resolution suspends, for now, the entry and transit through Uruguay of animals susceptible to Newcastle disease, and of their products and by-products, coming from Brazil, whatever their final destination. For products and by-products it covers goods made after 6 September 2026, which is 42 days before Brazil confirmed the outbreak, and the text does not say why that date was chosen.

Three kinds of goods are exempt: those from a country, zone or compartment free of the disease that meet Chapter 10.9 of the Terrestrial Animal Health Code of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH); poultry meat and egg products given the virus-inactivation treatments in articles 10.9.21 and 10.9.20; and feathers, feather meal and poultry meal for animal feed, farm or industrial use given the treatments in articles 10.9.16 to 10.9.19. In every case an international veterinary certificate must show that the treatment was applied and that re-contamination was prevented.

The resolution says the directorate’s technicians were still assessing the risk and that, until they finish, there are not enough guarantees to let such goods in. It was signed in Montevideo by the directorate’s head, Marcelo Rodríguez, and is to be published in the official gazette and on the ministry website.

Brazil’s agriculture ministry confirmed on Sunday 18 October 2026 a case of Newcastle disease on a commercial turkey-for-meat farm in Nova Itaberaba, in the state of Santa Catarina. The case came to light during an investigation by the state’s official veterinary service and was confirmed by a federal laboratory in São Paulo that WOAH recognises as an international reference laboratory for the disease.

The farm was sealed off and bird movements were suspended, and its sanitary depopulation, the removal of its birds, began on 19 October and ended on 20 October, the ministry said on 22 October. It also declared a 60-day animal-health emergency in four municipalities, Nova Itaberaba, Águas Frias, Coronel Freitas and Nova Erechim, through Ordinance 962/2026.

Uruguay’s ministry says Brazil notified WOAH of the case on 20 October. Brazil’s ministry stresses that eating poultry that passed official inspection remains safe.

Brazil’s ministry also points the public to an online surveillance panel and says it will release new information as the investigations and control actions advance. The state veterinary service, the federal ministry, the municipal government and police are working together on the response, the ministry says.

Brazil’s agriculture ministry listed the restrictions imposed by its trading partners as of Wednesday 21 October, the day before Uruguay acted. Mexico and Malaysia had suspended imports from all of Brazil, while China, Saudi Arabia and Chile had limited their suspensions to Santa Catarina.

Uruguay’s measure covers every Brazilian state rather than only Santa Catarina, and it applies to goods that merely cross Uruguay on their way elsewhere. Brazil’s ministry says it is working with importing countries toward a safe restart of trade and that the situation in the other markets remains under watch.

Brazil’s weight in world trade is why any restriction is watched closely: the US Department of Agriculture forecasts Brazil’s chicken-meat exports at 5.45 million tonnes in 2026, or 36% of world exports, against 3.06 million tonnes and 20% for the United States, in a report dated 9 October. The EU has barred Brazilian chicken over antimicrobial rules since 3 September, and on Wednesday 21 October the European Commission said it will propose letting it back in, which member states still have to vote on, the Brazilian news site g1 reported.

Uruguay produced 86,603 tonnes of poultry meat in 2025, mainly chicken, and imported 12,608 tonnes, according to the agriculture ministry’s statistics office, DIEA, in its 2026 yearbook. With 1,054 tonnes exported, domestic consumption was 98,157 tonnes, or 28 kilograms per person, which puts imports at about 13% of what Uruguayans ate.

Imports have more than doubled since 2018, but the yearbook does not break them down by country, so the share that comes from Brazil cannot be read from it. Most of the poultry Uruguayans eat is produced at home, and the resolution names the protection of the national sanitary status and of national production as its aim.

The ministry urged producers to tighten biosecurity, especially to prevent contact between domestic and wild birds, and to report any sign of the disease at once. The ministry’s release adds that the recommended steps include keeping bird-proof netting, enclosures and roofs of poultry sheds in good repair, dedicated clothing and footwear for entering them, and controls on access by people, vehicles and materials.

The same directorate suspended Brazilian poultry imports in 2025, when Brazil reported its first outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza on a commercial farm. That order of 16 May 2025 covered live birds, eggs, poultry products and genetic material, and it was softened on 20 May to allow heat-treated products and fresh meat produced before 1 May.

It ended on 30 June 2025, 45 days after it began, once WOAH had validated Brazil’s self-declared freedom from the disease, which the organisation’s website showed on 18 June. Afterwards only meat produced before 16 May or after 18 June 2025 could enter, which excluded the period when Brazil was eradicating the outbreak.

Brazil’s 2025 case was avian influenza, a different disease from Newcastle disease, though WOAH notes that the two can look alike in sick birds and need laboratory tests to tell apart. The comparison therefore shows how the directorate has handled past Brazilian outbreaks rather than how long this one will take.

The 2026 resolution has no end date and says only that the suspension is temporary. It leaves the ban in place until the directorate finishes its risk assessment.

If you produce poultry or eggs in Uruguay, the ministry asks you to tighten biosecurity now and to report any unusual deaths at once. If you ship poultry goods from Brazil to or through Uruguay, only goods from a disease-free origin or with a certified inactivation treatment can enter, under the resolution.

If you eat chicken or turkey in Uruguay or Brazil, Brazil’s ministry says poultry that passed official inspection is safe. WOAH describes Newcastle disease as a minor risk to people, usually a mild eye infection that clears by itself.

If you follow world poultry markets or invest in Brazilian meat processors, Uruguay is one more entry on a list that already includes Mexico, Malaysia, China, Saudi Arabia and Chile. For US producers the USDA figures show the contest: Brazil is forecast to hold 36% of world chicken exports in 2026 and the United States 20%, so lasting limits on Brazilian shipments could shift sales between them.

It is not known how long the Uruguayan suspension will last, because the resolution sets no end date and ties it to a risk assessment whose result has not been published. In 2025 a comparable suspension lasted 45 days, but no source gives a timetable for this one.

It is also not known how much of Uruguay’s 12,608 tonnes of poultry imports came from Brazil, because the statistics office does not split them by origin. Brazil’s ministry notes of 22 October describe only the one farm in Nova Itaberaba, and they say new information will follow as investigations advance.

The resolution speaks only of animals and their products and by-products, so it is not clear from the text whether travellers’ luggage or small parcels are covered. It also does not say how the directorate will inspect the goods at the border, who will carry out the checks, or whether it will review the measure when Brazil’s partners lift their own restrictions.

Brazil confirmed Newcastle disease on a turkey farm in Nova Itaberaba, Santa Catarina, on 18 October. Uruguay’s livestock directorate suspended imports and transit of susceptible birds and their products on 22 October while it assesses the risk.

It covers birds susceptible to Newcastle disease from Brazil, plus their products and by-products made after 6 September 2026, even if only crossing Uruguay. Goods from disease-free origins or given certified virus-inactivation treatments are exempt.

The World Organisation for Animal Health calls it a minor zoonosis that can cause mild, self-limiting conjunctivitis in humans. Brazil’s ministry says poultry that passed official inspection is safe to eat.

The resolution gives no end date and keeps the ban until the directorate finishes its risk assessment. A 2025 suspension of Brazilian poultry, over avian influenza, lasted 45 days.

Brazil’s agriculture ministry listed Mexico and Malaysia as suspending all Brazilian imports on 21 October. China, Saudi Arabia and Chile limited theirs to Santa Catarina.

Sources: Uruguay agriculture ministry (MGAP), news release of 23 October 2026 , MGAP, Resolution 244/2026 of the livestock services directorate, 22 October 2026 , MGAP, Resolution 148/2025, 16 May 2025 , MGAP, news release of 21 May 2025 , MGAP, news release of 16 July 2025 , MGAP-DIEA, Anuario Estadístico Agropecuario 2026, table 4, page 97 (PDF) , Brazil agriculture ministry, note of 19 October 2026 , Brazil agriculture ministry, note of 21 October 2026 , Brazil agriculture ministry, note of 22 October 2026 , World Organisation for Animal Health, Newcastle disease , US Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Poultry: World Markets and Trade, 9 October 2026 , g1, 21 October 2026 , Montevideo Portal, 24 October 2026 All retrieved 25 October 2026.

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