New H5N2 case hits industry
A NEW positive test for the H5N2 Avian flu virus in the Klein Karoo has dashed the beleaguered industry’s hopes of resuming trade this month with SA’S biggest ostrich export market, the EU.
SA Ostrich Business Chamber interim CEO Piet Kleyn said yesterday this was the eighth round of tests since the virus was first detected near Oudtshoorn in April. The latest case was on a farm near De Rust, in an area that had previously been free of the virus.
The chamber said exports to the EU could not resume “at this stage”. “It is not clear when exports will resume. The resumption of meat exports will be negotiated once the identified shortcomings in the system have been addressed,” it said.
The EU used to import 90 percent of SA’S ostrich meat and Brazil imported 15 tons of feathers annually, but with the ban in place, Kleyn said: “The latest calculations show we are losing R108 million a month.” He said a plan to have the Eden District, which includes the Klein Karoo, declared a disaster area so the ostrich industry could access provincial and national relief funding, was making little progress. “We don’t want to be too critical… but so far nothing much has been achieved.”
Since the start of the outbreak the industry has lost about R1 billion and about 41 000 birds have been culled. To limit job losses, the industry is making use of a Labour Department retraining scheme whereby the government pays 75 percent of a worker’s salary while he or she undergoes skills training.
Adding to the burden is the cost of laboratory tests. The industry used to spend about R5m a year on testing but is now having to fork out about R10m.
The knock-on effect has been harsh. The average farmworker earns R2 400 a month, excluding other benefits. A farm normally requires about 10 workers and with about 300 farms unable to slaughter in the Eden District alone, farmers are facing an annual wage bill of R86.4m without any income generated.
Farmers have already received government compensation of about R50m for their culled birds. This includes 3 000 female ostriches, which will affect breeding for the next three years. There is no market for ostrich chicks due to the movement restrictions while the virus remains active, and farms which have had their flocks culled will not be allowed to restock until the area is disease-free for three months – the incubation period of the virus.
The EU will only consider trade once the industry is disease-free for three months and puts various disease control measures in place. Kleyn said the industry was “in the planning phase for an action plan”.
“Bio-security measures must be stepped up. That is our main focus. We must get to a situation where we stop the circulation of the virus.”
“The (international) experts advised that the industry must be restructured in order to be sustainable. The biggest changes would have to be to limit movement of ostriches and implementing stricter bio-security measures on farms,” the chamber said.
In order to remain sustainable, the number of ostriches in certain areas would need to be reduced while reliable and sustainable disease control systems would need to be put in place.