Lerato Mbhiza
THE South African Poultry Association (SAPA) has confirmed that eggs and other poultry products found in supermarket shops are safe for consumption despite the avian flu outbreak.
The avian flu outbreak has led to fears and has resulted in a lot of myths speculations doing the rounds such as that chicken and eggs found in supermarket shelves are not safe to eat and people must avoid them .
SAPA’s Dr Abongile Balarane has assured South African consumers that eating properly cooked eggs and chicken does not pose any risk of infection as heat effectively destroys the virus.
Balarane also said since the avian flu outbreak no reported cases where the virus has spread from chicken meat or eggs to humans.
“All the sick chickens and their eggs plus their feeds have been culled and destroyed immediately. So, rest assured the eggs at stores are safe, but do not consume raw eggs,” Balarane cautioned.
The South African Poultry Industry has of recent been hit by H5N1 and H7N6 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). Provinces affected by H5N1 are Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
The Free State, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and North West were hit by the H7N6 strain.
All affected farms have been immediately placed under quarantine and no live chickens and eggs are allowed to be removed from the farm.
Chickens infected with HPAI get sick fast and die. Generally, the first signs of sick animals include a drop in production, meaning that sick chickens will produce very few if any eggs.
This together with the added mitigation of placing farms under quarantine, means no eggs from these infected farms will make their way to the shelves.
Balarane said South Africa has lost about 5 million laying hens to date and there is an additional 3.5 million that is suspected to have been affected by the bird flu.
While there are no plans to import fresh table eggs, liquid and powder eggs will be imported for industrial purposes.
But all available eggs will be channelled to the shelves for consumers, he said.
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