By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Government has urged farmers to intensify biosecurity measures after an avian influenza outbreak resulted in the deaths of more than 2.6 million birds.
Six of the nine provinces have been affected by the 50 HPAI H7 and 10 HPAI H5 subtypes of the virus, the Department of Agriculture said in a statement on Monday.
Poultry producers should immediately report suspicion of the disease to state veterinarians, it said.
A total of fifty (50) HPAI H7 outbreaks and ten (10) HPAI H5 outbreaks were reported in various parts of the country.
Gauteng is the hardest hit by the HPAI H7 outbreak, with 37 cases reported, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, and Northwest have reported 2 cases respectively of this strain, while the Free State has so far recorded only 1 case.
The department said the reported number of chickens that have died from the H7 strain stands at 107 705, while the reported number of chickens that were culled are 1 318 521.
In total, there has been a loss of 1 426 226 chickens due to the H7 strain.
“Western Cape Province is the hardest hit with regards to the HPAI H5 outbreaks having a total of 7 reported outbreaks. The other 3 HPAI H5 outbreaks are within KwaZulu-Natal Province.
The reported number of chickens that died of the H5 strain is 98 249, the reported number of chickens that were culled: 1 156 283
Based on these reported figures, there has been a total loss of 1 254 532 chickens,” the Department added.
It further said, the number of newly detected H7 and H5 PCR-positive farms are increasing, urging the industry to ensure biosecurity on poultry farms to reduce the risk of introduction.
The department has facilitated the importation of fertile eggs for the broiler industry, a similar request for the table eggs will be considered if received.
“They are also facilitating the transit to Eswatini of fertile eggs for their broiler production.
“With regards to vaccination, the Department met with vaccine registration regulators and the agreement reached is that the registration of vaccines will be fast-tracked, but the safety, efficacy, and quality will not be compromised.
“Due to the high probability of the Avian Influenza virus mutating and becoming zoonotic, care needs to be taken on the quality and efficacy parameters of the vaccine chosen for use in this exercise.
“The criteria under which vaccination will be permitted is almost in its final development, and only farms with good biosecurity and approved to vaccinate by the department will be given permission to vaccinate.
“The other requirements for vaccination will be surveillance to enable early detection of incursion and mandatory slaughter of vaccinated chickens,” said the department.
The country’s largest producer, Astral Foods, last week said that South Africa faces chicken meat shortages in the coming months due to the bird flu outbreak and impact of load-shedding on the poultry industry.