The report of Avian Influenza being confirmed in Belize burst into the news on 13th September - and within days - tens of thousands of birds had been slaughtered, and suspected farms in Blue Creek Orange Walk were quarantined.
In three weeks, the influenza was reported to have been contained - but what if it was never even really here at all? Turns out that the influenza that was confirmed never really happened at all...
The ultimate authority on animal diseases - which is the The National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Iowa, USA has sent confirmation back to Belize saying that all the samples which ent out from BAHA were NEGATIVE. Turns out, the tests done locally were false positives - which happens, but rarely with such costly consequences.
It's one heck of a curveball - but the General Manager of the Poultry Association told us via Zoom that he's relieved:
Armando Cowo - Manager, Belize Poultry Association
"I felt good. I was vindicated, because I was the only one telling everyone hold on let us wait for confirmation from NVSL, but in end people were saying well we need to do things, because what if it is a true positive and they have a point, because it would have spread. Given the supply chain disruptions due to the pandemic and short of staff in their labs and so on, you're taking longer than normal to have those results out. But at the end of the day whatever was done was worth the while. We're not saying it was not worth the while. I mean we had to take action at some point in time and we sat down and we brainstorm and we said well we are going to take these actions. Those actions were not taken in isolation, we all sat down and we all agree to it."
Jules Vasquez
"Should a greater degree of moderation have been exercise by the relevant authorities, because its such a big industry, it's like shouting fire in a crowded room when you say Avian Influenza."
Armando Cowo - Manager, Belize Poultry Association
"There is nothing wrong to err on the side of caution. It could have gone either way. Had we had it and we were waiting then what would have been the hit? we were walking a very thin line there."
And walking that line meant significant losses in bird lives and dollars to the affected farmers. So, can they be compensated for their losses - which as it turns out were unnecessary? Cowo says he hopes so:
Armando Cowo - Manager, Belize Poultry Association
"One farmer lost 24,100 birds. The other farmer lost 4,000 birds and the third farmer it was a layer farm, layers providing eggs - he lost 2,240 birds. That's roughly 30,000 birds and they have a value. Just in the cost of those birds we are looking at in excess of $100,000 lost and some people might say a hundred thousand dollars to the industry is not a lot, but to the individual farmers and we are hoping that somehow some where we can get some monies to help these people out. I mean we have to sit down and talk with the government; we have to sit down and talk to ourselves in the industry and see how best we can help these farmers to come back on stream and do what they have to do. It's their daily living that was affected."
"The law says, the minister responsible for agriculture may compensate. Its discretionary and what we are trying to do is trying to prepare a paper to make a policy change, because if you lose $100,000, would you call the authority and tell them next time you have a problem hey guys I have a problem and lose another $100,000 or $200,000? That's a food for thought. So to encourage farmers to report we have to find a mechanism whereby we can work together with the government and the private sector, help these farmers get back on their feet, so whenever there is another alert being called out, these fellows will cooperate with us."
