South African farmers are on high alert amid a highly pathogenic avian influenza(bird flu) outbreak that has killed over 2.7 million chickens country wide.
The government has called on the poulty industry to be extra vigilant and report suspected cases.
Bird flu vaccination
Gauteng Province, which is South Africa’s most populous province, is the hardest hit with regards to the HPAI H7 outbreaks.
Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development spokesperson Reggie Ngcobo said the number of newly detected positive cases are increasing.
“The industry is thus requested to ensure the utmost biosecurity on poultry farms to reduce the risk of introduction,” said Ngcobo.
The Department is collaborating with vaccine regulators to expedite the registration process while ensuring safety, efficacy, and quality of the doses are not compromised.
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Vaccine criteria
“We are finalising the criteria for permitting vaccination. Only farms with good biosecurity and pre-approval to vaccinate will be able to administer the doses,” said Ngcobo.
Other vaccination requirements include surveillance, early detection, and the mandatory slaughter of vaccinated chickens.
“We are also urging farmers to prevent contact with wild birds, including their fecal material, which can be transported on boots and equipment,” Ngcobo added.
Egg imports fast tracked
The department is importing fertile eggs for the broiler industry. “Similar request for the table eggs will be considered if received,” he added.
Astral Foods, which is South Africa’s largest poultry producer, has already predicted chicken and egg shortages in the coming months. The company had predicted losses for the 2023 financial year due to crippling powercuts.
“These costs included the additional cost of diesel to power standby generators, costs associated with a cutback in poultry production in order to catch up the backlog in the slaughter programme, higher feed costs due to older broilers, and overtime costs for the additional shifts introduced in our poultry processing plants,” said Astral in a volutary trading statement.
Astral said it had to dig deeper to deal with the current bird flu outbreak. The losses extend beyond the culling of large quantities of broiler breeding stock. Poultry farms also have to absorb the costs for the safe disposal of culled birds and biosecurity measures to curb the spread.
“To date, the total cost associated with the current bird flu outbreak amounts to approximately R220 million.”
Consumers will have to brace themselves for chicken and egg shortages in the coming months.
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