Officials and chicken farmers in Brazil have stepped up sanitary controls close to where the country's first case of avian influenza was found on a commercial farm, while racing to track the virus to stop its spread.

Brazil, one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of poultry, has confirmed the country’s first bird flu outbreak on a commercial farm.

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture confirmed on Friday the first outbreak of avian influenza on a commercial farm in the country. The outbreak, which may trigger trade bans, occurred in the city of Montenegro in Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, the ministry said in a statement.