Sa Poultry Producers Warn Of 'grave' Bird Flu Risk

South Africa faces a grave risk from the potential spread of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza HPAI, commonly known as Bird Flu, which has already swept across Europe, the USA and Argentina.

This is according to the South African Poultry Association Sapa which highlighted the risk of the virus migrating with wild birds from Europe to South Africa in a statement on Monday.

The disease, which has already spread across Europe, the USA and Argentina, remains unchecked in many countries, signalling that the time to act is now, Sapa said.

The two primary interventions available to prevent or contain HPAI are culling infected and at-risk flocks, and vaccination. However, culling alone has not been effective in controlling the disease, as evidenced in the European Union and the United States.

Sapa said egg producers in the USA had begun lobbying for vaccination, given the severe consequences of the disease. In South Africa, 90 of long-living poultry in greater Gauteng were either culled or died in 2023 due to the inability of biosecurity and culling measures to contain the outbreak.

Drawing from the lessons learned from Frances success in vaccinating 20 million ducks, South Africa is faced with the pressing need for vaccination as a tool to combat bird flu, the association added.

A major challenge facing South African farmers is that they are unfortunately not compensated for birds culled, and so far, no farms have been granted permission by the Department of Agriculture DoA to vaccinate.

Currently, South Africa has three registered vaccines for the H5 strain of the flu, but the H7 vaccine requires additional testing, which will take at least another year before it can be approved.

Sapa said industry leaders agreed that vaccination was essential, particularly after the devastating losses experienced in 2017 and again in 2023.

With the potential to lose half of all poultry flocks again, the impact on the industry would be catastrophic, not just financially but also in terms of food security, malnutrition, and environmental concerns from the destruction of large numbers of birds, the organisation pointed out.

This will wreak havoc on the price of South Africas preferred protein, as it has in the past, as any shortage in supply will inevitably increase pricing.

However, the association said there were obstacles to obtaining permission for vaccinations.

The DoA has put in place stringent biosecurity measures and monitoring protocols that farmers must meet to be granted vaccination approval. However, these measures have proven impractical, and costly, with no commercial farms in the country currently able to comply, Sapa said.

This sets an impossibly high bar, particularly for small-scale farmers.

The association said no farm had met the criteria for vaccination approval, and the DoA had ceased processing vaccination applications until further guidance was provided by Minister John Steenhuisens office.

The impact of an outbreak on the industry is severe. In 2023, more than 9.6 million birds were culled, representing more than a third of long-living birds in the greater Gauteng area, where 90 of birds were either culled or died, leading to a direct minimum estimated loss of R9.5 billion.

With food security at risk, government intervention in the form of import rebates was introduced, but this did nothing to mitigate the damage to the poultry industry. It only served to do more damage to the domestic industry, Sapa said.

Prices for meat and eggs soared, with egg prices increasing by more than 30.

Sapa pointed out that South Africa remained classified as HPAI-positive, severely impacting its ability to export.

The urgency of addressing this looming crisis cannot be overstated. The industry has called for immediate intervention to prevent a disaster. Without vaccination, South Africa may once again face catastrophic consequences from bird flu.