(BSS/AFP) - Mexican agricultural officials on Monday suspended imports of chicken meat, live birds and hatching eggs from Brazil due to an outbreak of Newcastle disease.

"The measure was taken with the purpose of protecting domestic poultry production," the Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development said.

Brazilian authorities detected the outbreak on Sunday at a commercial farm in the south of the country and shut it down, national media reported.

The highly contagious respiratory virus poses no threat to humans, but among chickens it can cause neurological disorders, reduced egg production and increased mortality, animal health officials said.

This is the second time in a year and a half that Mexico has suspended poultry products from Brazil, which exports 30 percent of its poultry products.

In 2025, Mexico, China, the European Union and other Latin American countries halted imports of Brazilian chicken during May and June because of an avian flu outbreak.