28 August 2023
By: Carien Kruger
Highly contagious avian influenza has hit the poultry industry hard this year, with about 3-million chickens already culled. The government does not compensate farmers for their losses.
“We’ve had a bad outbreak this year, with more chickens affected than in 2017 (the first outbreak in South Africa) and 2021-22,” says South African Poultry Association CEO Izaak Breitenbach.
The outbreaks have been primarily in the commercial egg industry, but three broiler chicken flocks have also been affected.
“The H5 strain is now predominantly causing issues in the Western Cape, and the H7 strain in the greater Gauteng area,” says Breitenbach.
According to the Western Cape agriculture department, there were seven outbreaks of the H5N1 virus in the province from April to June, but none since then.
However, the province warns poultry farmers to remain vigilant and says that since May 29, 23 outbreaks of the H7N6 strain have been reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the Free State.
“This is the first time a highly contagious H7 avian influenza virus has been found in chickens in South Africa,” the province says.
Significant costs for farmers
Breitenbach says the government’s protocol for action when outbreaks are suspected works, but not quickly enough. This has led to cases where the virus has spread from farm to farm.
When avian influenza is confirmed on a farm, it is the producer’s responsibility to cull the chickens according to the guidelines of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development.
“It is the government’s responsibility to compensate us for the chickens since it is a controlled disease,” says Breitenbach. “However, the government still does not pay compensation. The costs of cleaning and composting the chickens are borne by the producer.”
Vaccination a complex issue
A farmer recently affected by the disease expressed frustration last week because there is no vaccine available. Breitenbach says it will be a long time before vaccination can occur.
“Vaccination is on our agenda in discussions with the department, but no vaccine has been registered in South Africa and it will be a while before a vaccine is approved.”
Breitenbach also says there are problems associated with vaccination. “If we vaccinate, we cannot prohibit the import of poultry meat from countries that are positive for highly contagious avian influenza. We would then be inundated with imports.
“If a vaccine were to be approved, only day-old chicks could be vaccinated, and it would take a long time to vaccinate all flocks.”
