More than 120,000 chickens have died or have been killed since last week after an avian flu outbreak was confirmed in the Western Cape. The avian influenza has been detected in two commercial layer farms in the Paardeberg area in the Drakenstein and Swartland Local Municipality. According to World Organization for Animal Health, Avian influenza is a highly contagious viral disease that affects both domestic and wild birds. 

THE OUTBREAK 

Western Cape Agriculture MEC Ivan Meyer said the first outbreak was confirmed on April 21 and the second one on Tuesday. "Highly pathogenicity avian influenza outbreaks have been occurring worldwide and were detected in poultry in other provinces earlier in this year and throughout 2022," Meyer said. He added that the Western Cape has not seen the virus in commercial poultry since early last year. The exact strain is not known yet and is still being investigated. The veterinary services in the province also issued a warning for farmers and the public to be vigilant and to report any suspicion of the disease in wild or domestic birds to the local state veterinarian. 

IMPORTING POULTRY PRODUCTS 

Fred Hume, managing director of Hume International, a poultry import company, said the government has to change its protocols to allow the local heat treatment of imported poultry. "SA needs to urgently agree on a heat treatment protocol for mechanically deboned meat (MDM) in case of a bird flu outbreak, such as the protocol currently in place for pork sourced from approved markets abroad. This is not the time to drag our feet. Government must start being proactive rather than reactive if we are to avoid what could be South Africa's next major food crisis," Hume said. He added that the global bird flu outbreak is posing a significant risk to the country's food security. "The result of limited poultry imports from Brazil brought on by a bird flu outbreak is therefore that poorer communities could be forced to give up their affordable primary source of protein; which is chicken. The outbreak has already reached countries such as Argentina, which is neighbours with Brazil. Brazil supplies the country with more than half of our imported poultry meat.