South Africa’s poultry industry is set to take a further knock as a pathogenic bird-flu strain was detected on two more farms this week. The outbreak of the H5 strain of the virus was first identified at a commercial layer chicken farm on the East Rand last week, and led to three neighbouring countries suspending imports.
In 2020, according to the South African Poultry Association, South Africa exported 10 608 tons of eggs to Mozambique along with 12 835 tons of broiler chickens. Namibia imported 23 tons of eggs and 8 015 tonnes of broiler meat, while Botswana imported 394 fertile hatchery eggs and 2 304 broilers. Steenhuisen said that although there was a government compensation mechanism in place for farmers affected by the outbreak, it normally took years before the compensation was paid out.
According to Steenhuisen: “This is a very bad loss for the farmer, he needs two million rands to recover what he has lost already. He sacrificed his chickens for the sake of the local poultry industry to avoid the spread of this flu. We are also investigating two other reported outbreaks in Johannesburg again and one in North West. I don’t have the full details for now. This is concerning and bad for all farmers.