“South Africa’s Poultry Industry Struggles with Avian Flu Outbreak”

(Ecofin Agency) – In South Africa, the poultry industry is the main contributor to agricultural GDP. Between the energy crisis, competition with low-priced meat imports and the multiplication of episodes of avian flu, the sector is facing serious challenges.

In South Africa, the province of the Western Cape has just declared an epizootic of bird flu after the successive appearance of two outbreaks of the pathology on 21 and 25 April last in commercial poultry farms located in the Paardeberg region. The announcement was made in a statement posted on the provincial government’s website.

According to the provincial veterinary services, investigations are underway to determine the exact strain of the virus which is in question and so far a number of 120,000 birds have died or have already been slaughtered to limit the spread of the virus. It is also the first time since 2021 that the province has faced such a crisis.

«Outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza occurred worldwide and were detected in poultry in other South African provinces in early 2023 and throughout 2022. However, the Western Cape has not seen the virus in commercial poultry since early last yearexplains Ivan Meyer, the province’s Minister of Agriculture.

Overall, this announcement is an additional hard blow which should further undermine the productivity of the sector already struggling with the energy crisis which has led to the slaughter of nearly 10 million chicks.

If overall, there is still no vaccine to treat the disease, a glimmer of hope appeared with the announcement on February 17 by the Netherlands of two conclusive experiments carried out by Wageningen Bioveterinary Research center, a research center veterinarian located northeast of Amsterdam.

Since the beginning of 2022, the World Organization for Animal Health (OMSA) estimates that avian influenza has already led to the slaughter of more than 200 million birds (chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese) in worldwide.

Stephanas Assocle

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