18 January 2024
State requirements for poultry farmers who want to vaccinate chickens against highly contagious avian influenza are likely to be too expensive for some.
Negotiations continue between the industry and the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development on the vaccination strategy, a first for the country.
Izaak Breitenbach of the South African Poultry Association says the guidelines in the strategy require a high standard of biosecurity and the required monitoring programme is likely to be costly.
Dr Mpho Maja, director of animal health, approved the strategy at the end of November but producers have not yet started vaccinating because they are awaiting approval for locally developed vaccines against the H7 strain of the disease.
The state registered a foreign vaccine against the H5 strain last year. However, the biggest losses occurred in the second half of the year in northern provinces due to a unique South African H7N6 strain, for which local vaccines have now been developed but have not yet approved.
About 6 million laying hens were culled last year and the broiler industry lost about 2,5 million, or 30%, of its breeding chickens.
Broilers do not get avian influenza because they are slaughtered at about six weeks old. The disease affects only older chickens, such as breeding chickens and laying hens. Vaccinating these birds would make sense but experts say widespread vaccination will be necessary because the industry cannot prevent crises like last year’s if one producer vaccinates chickens and its neighbour does not.
Astral Foods has already said it is eager to start vaccinating its breeding broilers.
The current strategy requires a high standard of biosecurity, at the level required for exports, as well as a high level of monitoring because vaccinated chickens can still be infected with a “field virus” (an avian influenza strain different from the vaccine strain).
What does vaccination prevent?
Vaccination against highly contagious avian influenza does not prevent chickens from contracting or shedding the disease but it stops them getting very sick and dying. This means it will be much more difficult for farmers to detect an avian influenza infection based on an increase in mortality in chicken houses.
Broiler producers who export comply with the VPN (veterinary procedural notice) 44 standard. Few eggs are exported, and few egg producers meet this standard.
According to the strategy, provision may be made for the latter requirement, as it refers to the VPN 44 requirements “or equivalent biosecurity measures”.
However, it is expected that only large egg producers will start vaccinating this year due to the cost of the requirements. The egg industry has many independent, smaller producers for whom vaccination is likely to be unaffordable.
Producers who start vaccinating as soon as the H7 vaccine is registered and go through the required approval processes will provide important scientific information, and it is hoped that this will help in refining the requirements so vaccination makes financial sense for smaller producers too.
South Africa will become one of the few countries to allow and implement vaccination. China, Vietnam and Mexico have been vaccinating for some time and France started a pilot project with commercial ducks last year. Breitenbach says it seems South Africa’s guidelines are stricter than France’s.
Many other major poultry-producing countries are considering vaccination because the disease is so devastating.
