Saudi Arabia has temporarily suspended poultry meat imports from Santa Catarina, Brazil, after a Newcastle disease outbreak, Brazil reported on Oct. 21, 2026.
Saudi Arabia has suspended imports of poultry meat and poultry meat products from Santa Catarina, a state in southern Brazil, after a bird disease outbreak.
Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa) listed the Saudi measure in an official note published on Oct. 21, 20261. The note says the restriction covers only Santa Catarina, not the rest of Brazil1.
In short, poultry meat shipped to Saudi Arabia from Santa Catarina is now blocked. Poultry from other Brazilian states is not named in the Saudi restriction.
Why did Saudi Arabia stop Santa Catarina poultry?
The trigger is Newcastle disease, a highly contagious virus that infects farm birds and wild birds2. Mapa confirmed the outbreak on Oct. 18, 2026, at a commercial farm raising turkeys for meat3. The farm is in Nova Itaberaba, a town in Santa Catarina3.
The virus was found during an investigation by Santa Catarina’s official veterinary service3. A federal laboratory in São Paulo then confirmed it. The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) recognises that laboratory as an international reference laboratory for the disease3.
Mapa says it notified WOAH and Brazil’s trading partners of the outbreak4. It shared its first technical information and the steps taken on the farm4. Importing countries then decided their own responses.
Which poultry goods does the Saudi suspension cover?
Mapa’s note describes the Saudi measure in a few words. It covers poultry meat and poultry meat products coming from Santa Catarina1. In practice, this means chicken, turkey and other bird meat, and processed foods made from that meat.
The note does not list tariff codes or name exemptions for the Saudi measure. It also gives no end date. The note calls all the measures by trading partners "temporary restrictions"1.
The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), Saudi Arabia’s food safety regulator, decides such import bans. Its own notice on Santa Catarina was not available for this report. The goods covered, any exemptions and the start date should be read in that notice once it appears.
How did Saudi Arabia handle an earlier Newcastle case in Brazil?
The SFDA has acted on Newcastle disease in Brazil before. On July 23, 2024, it imposed a temporary ban on poultry meat, table eggs and their products from Rio Grande do Sul, another southern state5. That decision followed a WOAH alert dated July 18, 20245.
Saudi Newcastle measures on Brazil, 2024 and 2026
| Question | 2024 measure | 2026 measure |
|---|---|---|
| State covered | Rio Grande do Sul | Santa Catarina |
| Goods | Poultry meat, table eggs, their products | Poultry meat and meat products |
| Status | No longer in force | Temporary, no end date |
The 2024 decision had an exemption. Poultry meat and eggs that had been heat-treated enough to kill the virus could still enter5. Such shipments had to meet Saudi health rules and standards. They also needed a health certificate from an approved Brazilian authority showing the product was free of the virus5.
That decision took effect on the day it was issued5. The SFDA website now marks the 2024 circular as no longer in force5. It is a different measure for a different state. It shows how the SFDA has written such bans, but it does not set the terms of the new one.
Which other countries restricted Brazilian poultry?
Saudi Arabia is one of several trading partners that acted after the outbreak. Mapa’s Oct. 21 note sorts them into two groups1.
Two countries suspended imports from all of Brazil1:
- Malaysia: poultry meat, meat products and offal (organ meat).
- Mexico: live birds, poultry meat and offal, fertile eggs, chicks up to three days old, and songbirds, ornamental birds, birds of prey and pet birds sold commercially.
Three partners, including Saudi Arabia, limited their suspension to Santa Catarina only1:
- Saudi Arabia: poultry meat and poultry meat products.
- China: poultry meat and poultry meat products.
- Chile: fertile eggs, specific-pathogen-free (SPF) eggs used in laboratories and vaccine making, day-old chicks, ornamental birds, fresh poultry meat, eggs for eating, and meat products containing fresh poultry meat.
So the Saudi measure is narrower than those of Malaysia and Mexico. It covers one state and meat goods only. Mapa says it is still watching other markets and will publish updates when they are confirmed1.
Who is affected by the Saudi measure?
Poultry exporters and meat plants in Santa Catarina lose access to the Saudi market while the suspension lasts. Shipments from the state that are meant for Saudi Arabia cannot clear Saudi customs under this measure.
Saudi importers who buy from Santa Catarina suppliers must find poultry elsewhere. Suppliers in other Brazilian states are not named in the Saudi measure, according to Mapa’s note1. Brazilian exporters may move sales from Santa Catarina plants to plants in other states, where their export approvals allow it.
Mapa stresses that poultry products that passed official inspection remain safe to eat1. Santa Catarina’s animal health agency adds that the risk to people is low2. People in direct contact with sick birds can get eye irritation (conjunctivitis), but the disease does not pass through food2.
What is Brazil doing at the infected turkey farm?
Officials closed the farm and stopped all movement of birds from it3. The steps to control and remove the virus follow Brazil’s contingency plan for bird flu and Newcastle disease3.
Response at the Nova Itaberaba farm
The response has moved in clear stages:
- Mapa confirmed the outbreak on Oct. 18, 20263.
- Culling of the birds on the farm began on Oct. 19 and ended on Oct. 204.
- On Oct. 21, workers finished burying the bodies of 6,526 birds and farm supplies in an approved pit2.
- On Oct. 22, three state veterinarians were supervising the cleaning and disinfection of the farm2.
After cleaning, the farm must stay empty for a set period before it can raise birds again2. The documents do not give the length of that period.
How large is the Santa Catarina control zone?
Mapa issued Ordinance No. 962/2026 (Portaria Mapa nº 962/2026)4. It declares an animal health emergency for 60 days in four towns: Nova Itaberaba, Águas Frias, Coronel Freitas and Nova Erechim4. Officials also control the movement of animals and other regulated materials in the restricted area4.
Rural properties under surveillance around the farm
Cidasc, Santa Catarina’s agricultural and animal health agency, leads the field work with Mapa2. They set up an animal health emergency operations centre in western Santa Catarina2.
Surveillance will cover 1,680 rural properties in total2. That includes 166 properties within 3 kilometres of the farm and 1,514 more within 10 kilometres2.
In the first two days, 15 field teams visited 46 small farms that keep birds for their own use2. Each team includes at least one veterinarian2. They also took samples for laboratory tests at commercial poultry farms2:
- 20 commercial farms raising chickens for meat.
- 2 farms rearing young meat chickens.
- 1 breeder farm and 1 hatchery.
- 4 turkey farms.
- 8 other properties.
When could Saudi imports from Santa Catarina restart?
Neither Saudi Arabia nor Brazil has published an end date for the suspension. Mapa says it keeps working with health authorities in importing countries1. It is giving them technical information on the outbreak and the control steps taken1.
Mapa says its aim is to move talks forward for a safe return of trade1. That return must meet the health rules of each market1. The emergency declared under Ordinance No. 962/2026 runs for 60 days4. Test results from farms around the outbreak will show whether the virus has spread.
Key points on the Saudi poultry suspension
The table sums up what the official documents state about the measure.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What changed? | Saudi Arabia suspended poultry imports from one state |
| Which state? | Santa Catarina, Brazil |
| Which goods? | Poultry meat and poultry meat products |
| Why? | Newcastle disease at a turkey farm |
| Where was the outbreak? | Nova Itaberaba, Santa Catarina |
| When was it confirmed? | Oct. 18, 2026 |
| Who reported the Saudi measure? | Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock |
| Date of Mapa’s note | Oct. 21, 2026 |
| Rest of Brazil affected? | Not under the Saudi measure |
| Brazil’s emergency period | 60 days in four towns |
| End date of Saudi suspension | Not yet announced |
Shipments of poultry meat from Santa Catarina to Saudi Arabia are blocked for now. The next marker is the end of Brazil’s 60-day emergency in the four towns, together with the surveillance results around Nova Itaberaba4.
Sources
- ↩ Doença de Newcastle: nova atualização sobre as restrições às exportações — Ministério da Agricultura e Pecuária https://www.gov.br/agricultura/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/doenca-de-newcastle-nova-atualizacao-sobre-as-restricoes-as-exportacoes
- ↩ Propriedades no entorno do foco de Doença de Newcastle recebem vigilância epidemiológica – Noticias SC https://noticias.sc.gov.br/propriedades-no-entorno-do-foco-de-doenca-de-newcastle-recebem-vigilancia-epidemiologica/
- ↩ Mapa confirma foco de doença de Newcastle em estabelecimento avícola em Santa Catarina — Ministério da Agricultura e Pecuária https://www.gov.br/agricultura/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/mapa-confirma-foco-de-doenca-de-newcastle-em-estabelecimento-avicola-em-santa-catarina
- ↩ Mapa atualiza ações de resposta ao foco da doença de Newcastle em Santa Catarina — Ministério da Agricultura e Pecuária https://www.gov.br/agricultura/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/mapa-atualiza-acoes-de-resposta-ao-foco-da-doenca-de-newcastle-em-santa-catarina
- ↩ فرض حظر مؤقت على استيراد لحوم الدواجن وبيض المائدة ومنتجاتهما من ولاية (Rio Grande do Sul) بجمهورية البرازيل الاتحادية، بسبب تفشي مرض نيوكاسل فيها | الهيئة العامة للغذاء والدواء https://www.sfda.gov.sa/ar/circulars/16340