Rapid-fire chicken cull in SA
IN RESPONSE to outbreaks of avian influenza at farms in Mpumalanga, Agriculture Forestries and Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana said yesterday that 260 000 chickens had been culled to avoid the spread of the highly contagious disease.
“Our team of veterinarians has swiftly responded to this threat. We have placed the affected farms under quarantine, and the affected birds have been euthanised and the eggs destroyed. Approximately 260 000 birds have been culled,” Zokwana said.
He said Section 19 of the Animal Disease Act gave the director for animal health the legal mandate to compensate for any animals or birds killed by the state pursuant to any disease control measure.
Zokwana said experts within his department believed a ban on the sale of live chickens would be the best measure to control the spread.
“In order to contain the disease, our team called for the ban on the sale of live chickens to manage the further spread. This triggered a nationwide concern since a number of livelihoods would be affected. However, this measure was imposed in the interest of the country and the poultry producers at large, and I can assure you that it was not taken lightly,” said Zokwana.
He said buyers and sellers of “more than five chickens for any other purpose other than direct slaughter at a registered abattoir” would now be subjected to conditions including registering with the independent Poultry Disease Management Agency.
Only registered sellers and buyers were allowed to trade, and it was the responsibility of both sellers and buyers to ensure the party they were trading with was registered. Farmers may only sell live chickens certified as healthy by a veterinarian or animal health technician.
Traders were now required to only sell healthy chickens, and must keep records, as prescribed. Sellers and buyers registering with the agency were required to sign an undertaking to adhere to the stipulated control measures.
“These conditions apply to sellers of live broiler chickens, live spent layer hens, live spent broiler birds, points of lay pullets and any chickens that may fall into these categories. The conditions apply to any buyers and traders who buy more than five live chickens that fall into the above categories,” said Zokwana.
“All stakeholders are implored to comply with the registration and other requirements that are designed to allow the trade of live chickens to continue without compromising animal health. Depending on the level of compliance that is achieved with these conditions, the director for animal health will review future requirements for blanket bans.”
Avian influenza is a virus, and is classified as either highly pathogenic or low pathogenic by the World Organisation for Animal Health. The type that has been reported in this region is highly pathogenic and is extremely contagious.
In South Africa, two cases have been reported since June 22.
Only the live birds that have been certified as healthy may be sold