Sapa Calls For Acceleration Of Bird Flu Vaccination Rollout

The South African Poultry Association SAPA is urging the government and Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen to expedite the rollout of bird flu vaccinations , citing delays caused by stringent biosecurity protocols that leave the industry vulnerable to outbreaks.

The poultry industry, South Africas second-largest agricultural sector, employs nearly 58 000 people.

SAPA CEO Izaak Breitenbach says, "Avian influenza at the moment is a great threat to us. Most of the European countries have had outbreaks, and America-most of their poultry-producing states have had outbreaks of avian influenza. So, were on high alert-and influenza normally comes to South Africa through wild birds migrating from Europe to South Africa."

He adds: "The way that we can address the problem is that we can vaccinate against highly pathogenic influenza. But its a controlled disease, so the government controls the vaccination process in terms of the disease. The biosecurity standards that were set are so high that not even our export farms can comply with that."

SAPA has called for urgent intervention to ensure the poultry industry can safeguard itself against potential outbreaks.