Lerato Mbhiza
Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Thoko Didiza met with retailers on Monday to discuss the impact of Avian Flu in South Africa.
The Department of Agriculture said the outbreak of Avian Flu has posed challenges and impacted the supply of eggs in some regions of the country.
“In today’s meeting, the minister briefed the retailers on the containment measures that have been taken to limit the spread of the disease as well as possible solutions to manage such outbreaks in the short and the medium-term including vaccination, Spokesperson for the Department, Reggie Ngcobo said
“The Minister is looking at the possibility of vaccination and currently reviewing applications by various suppliers. On the broiler side, Ministers Didiza and [Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim] Patel are assessing some trade instruments to ease the supply of chicken meat”.
Gauteng has been the hardest hit with HPAI H7 outbreaks and 37 reported cases, followed by Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Northwest with two cases each, while the Free State has one reported case.
More than 100 000 chickens had died while the reported number of chickens culled at commercial chicken farms exceeded 1.3 million.
In September, the department said the country was contending with two different strains of the virus, the infamous H5N1 and a new strain identified as H7N6.
South African Poultry Association (Sapa) said the number of Avian Flu cases in South Africa was higher this year than in any other year since the first outbreaks were reported in commercial farms in 2017.
The bird flu outbreak has resulted in Namibia suspendiing all poultry imports from South Africa.
INSIDE POLITICS
