On May 15, 2023, Brazil, the world’s top chicken exporter, for the first time confirmed Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) cases but only in wild birds, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

Two cases were detected in wild birds and should not trigger a ban on imports of Brazilian poultry products as per guidelines from the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), according to the Brazilian government. The Brazilian government confirmed the detection of the A/H5N1 subtype of the influenza virus in two marine birds, of the Thalasseus acuflavidus species (Cabot terns), on the coast of Brazil’s southeastern state of Espirito Santo. The Cabot terns’ migration stretches from the Northeast U.S. to Southern Chile.