Digital Angel Signs Agreement With Brazilian Government to Help Fight Hoof and Mouth Disease in World's Largest Beef Exporting
April 25 2006 - 7:30AM
PR Newswire (US)
SO. ST. PAUL, Minn., April 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Digital
Angel Corporation (AMEX:DOC), an advanced technology company in the
field of rapid and accurate identification, location tracking, and
condition monitoring of high-value assets, announced today that it
has entered into an agreement with the Brazilian Agriculture
Research Corporation (Embrapa) to conduct a joint pilot program to
fight Hoof and Mouth Disease (HMD). On Wednesday, April 26, Digital
Angel President and Chief Executive Officer Kevin McGrath will meet
with Brazil's Minister of Agriculture Roberto Rodrigues in Brazil
to inaugurate the program. The pilot program includes the continued
development of a bio-thermal (temperature sensing) RFID umbilical
chip that will assist in identifying Hoof and Mouth Disease in the
Cebu cattle population in Brazil. The bio-thermal RFID umbilical
chip being developed is based on the Bio-Thermo(R) RFID chip
currently sold by Digital Angel in Europe and South Africa. The
initial pilot program in Brazil, which is expected to proceed over
the next six months, will involve tagging up to 175 cattle with an
electronic RFID tag, a visual tag, and a bio-thermal chip located
in the umbilical cord. In addition to temperature sensing, this
will provide for visual and electronic identification of the
cattle. During the research and following the successful completion
of the pilot program, Embrapa will make available all development
information to Brazilian universities, technical schools, the
scientific community, and the Cattle Raiser Association, and will
demonstrate during "Field Days" to all interested cattle ranchers.
All research could also be shared with other Latin American
countries in the HMD Control Program. "This cooperative effort with
the Brazilian Government to eradicate Hoof and Mouth Disease in
Brazil is very important to Digital Angel," McGrath said. "We have
been working with the government in Brazil for several years to
help it enhance its livestock herd management, and we have learned
a great deal and gained considerable respect for its commitment to
this very important program. This is an excellent example of the
innovative thinking of Embrapa and we are pleased to be able to
expand and strengthen our cooperative agreement with them."
Minister Rodrigues recently discussed the importance of eliminating
Hoof and Mouth Disease so that Brazil and the countries of
MERCOSUR, (a trading zone of South American Countries) can increase
their participation in the world's beef markets. Minister Rodrigues
also said that the eradication of Hoof and Mouth Disease in South
America is a major priority of the MERCOSUR countries, which
include Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Chile. In
this effort, the MERCOSUR countries are negotiating a financing of
more than $100 million from the Inter-American Development Bank
(IDB) for joint actions to eradicate Hoof and Mouth Disease in the
next three years. McGrath will also discuss with Minister Rodrigues
Digital Angel's plans for investing in tag production in Brazil,
including production of visual tags, RFID cattle tags and RFID
umbilical chips. When scanned with an RFID scanner and used in
conjunction with a database program, the bio-thermal chip can, in
addition to sensing temperature, provide immediate access to
specific information such as the identity of the animal, its age,
medical history, where it has been, and its contacts with other
cattle. Once such a system is implemented in Brazil it would be the
first country to use an umbilical sensor to fight Hoof and Mouth
Disease, which could become the standard for other countries.
Brazil is the largest cattle exporting country in the world with a
herd of more than 180 million cattle, which could double in the
next 10 years. According to IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geographic
and Statistics), the geographic area devoted to the cattle industry
is more than 1,802,500 square miles. About Digital Angel
Corporation Digital Angel Corporation develops and deploys sensor
and communications technologies that enable rapid and accurate
identification, location tracking, and condition monitoring of
high-value assets. Applications for the Company's products include
identification and monitoring of humans, pets, fish, poultry and
livestock through its patented implantable microchips; location
tracking and message monitoring of vehicles and aircraft in remote
locations through systems that integrate GPS and geosynchronous
satellite communications; and monitoring of asset conditions such
as temperature and movement, through advanced miniature sensors.
Digital Angel Corporation is majority-owned by Applied Digital Inc.
(NASDAQ:ADSX). For more information about Digital Angel, please
visit http://www.digitalangelcorp.com/. The statements in this
press release that are not strictly historical, are
"forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of
the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 and are intended to be covered by the safe
harbors created by these sections. The forward-looking statements
are subject to risks and uncertainties and the actual results that
the Company achieves may differ materially from these
forward-looking statements due to such risks and uncertainties,
including, but not limited to, Applied Digital Inc. owns 55.4% of
the Company's common stock, new accounting pronouncements regarding
expensing of share based compensation may impact the Company's
future results of operations, the Company may continue to incur net
losses, infringement by third parties on the Company's intellectual
property or development of substantially equivalent proprietary
technology by the Company's competitors could negatively impact the
Company's business, domestic and foreign government regulation and
other factors could impair the Company's ability to develop and
sell its products in certain markets, the Company relies on sales
to government contractors for its animal identification and search
and rescue beacon products, and any decline in the demand by these
customers for such products could negatively affect the Company's
business, the Company depends on a single production arrangement
for its patented syringe-injectable microchips, and the loss of or
any significant reduction in the production could have an adverse
effect on the Company's business, technological change could cause
the Company's products to become obsolete, the loss of one of the
Company's principal customers could negatively impact the Company's
net revenue, the Company's earnings will decline if the Company
writes off goodwill and other intangible assts, options and
warrants outstanding and available for issuance may adversely
affect the market price of the Company's common stock, currency
exchange rate fluctuations could have an adverse effect on the
Company's sales and financial results, the Company depends on a
small team of senior management. A detailed statement of risks and
uncertainties is contained in the Company's reports to the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including in particular the
Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2005.
Investors and stockholders are urged to read this document
carefully. The Company can offer no assurances that any
projections, assumptions or forecasts made or discussed in this
release will be met, and investors should understand the risks of
investing solely due to such projections. The Company undertakes no
obligation to revise any forward-looking statements in order to
reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of
this press release. Contact: Allen & Caron Inc Michael
Lucarelli (investors) Len Hall (media) 212-691-8087 212-691-8087
DATASOURCE: Digital Angel Corporation CONTACT: Investors, Michael
Lucarelli, ; or Media, Len Hall, , both of Allen & Caron Inc,
+1-212-691-8087, for Digital Angel Corporation Web site:
http://www.digitalangelcorp.com/
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