R50m already lost to bird flu

THE South African economy has lost more than R50 million since the outbreak of avian flu, with millions more likely to be lost if the disease is not quickly contained.

Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Daff) Minister Senzeni Zokwana yesterday told journalists they were doing everything possible to contain the spread of the disease.

Bird flu has been reported in 47 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

Localised outbreaks have been reported in the highveld of Mpumalanga, Gauteng and recently also in KwaZulu-Natal, North West and Western Cape. So far, 24 outbreaks have been detected; 10 in commercial chickens, three in ostriches, three in backyard chickens, and eight in wild birds and birds kept as a hobby.

The South African Poultry Association (Sapa) said more than R50m had already been lost, with thousands of chickens culled and farms left scrambling to survive.

On the other hand, the South African Ostrich Business Chamber said it had not felt the impact of the outbreak, but was keeping a close eye on developments.

It said that in 2011 the ostrich industry lost more than R1.2 billion after a similar outbreak.

The first case of H5N8 (avian flu) was detected on a farm in June.

Since then several cases have been reported and thousands of chickens and eggs culled.

Zokwana said the disease needed to be contained.

“The virus can cause big losses in poultry, and therefore containing and eradicating it is a priority.

“Government veterinary services, together with the poultry industry, have worked tirelessly to curb the spread of the disease by destroying all infected poultry,” said Zokwana.

He said the current strain did not cause the disease in humans.

Sapa chairperson Achmat Brinkhuis said they had not yet done a full assessment of the economic impact to the poultry industry.

But he said it had caused big losses at breeding farms.

Brinkhuis said the estimated loss was around R50m.

Avian flu was detected on two commercial ostrich farms in the Western Cape in the Heidelberg area. Both farms have been placed under quarantine. There are around 1 000 ostriches on the farms.

The chief executive of the South African Ostrich Business Chamber, Piet Klein, said they had had no fatalities among ostriches.

He said he hoped nothing would happen to the birds.

“At the moment we are not counting ostriches. They have got their own protection against the viruses,” said Klein.

More than 2.1 million chickens have been affected by the outbreak.

Zokwana denied that authorities had been slow to respond to the outbreak since the first case was reported in June.

He said they had been on the ground from day one with control measures.

“We have worked well with the industry, and they have been able to co-operate,” he said.

Part of the bio-security measures they were proposing on the farms included keeping poultry away from wetlands and areas frequented by wild birds, not providing food that would attract wild birds, and to control people’s access to places that housed poultry.