The H5N8 strain of bird flu has been identified in Germiston on a commercial egg-laying farm, which is home to about 400 000 birds, Germiston City News reported.
Kevin Lovell, CEO of the SA Poultry Association, said the virus was confirmed on Friday last week. Depopulating the chickens started last weekend and the area is under quarantine.
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This strain of bird flu has now been identified on four farms, with the other three being in Mpumalanga.
Despite three of the four farms having good bio-security, of which the Germiston site is one, the virus made it onto the farms, Lovell said.
He said between 95 to 98 per cent of the chickens should be euthanased by the end of next week. According to him the four outbreaks will in the end result in the culling of about 900 000 chickens.
He said there were roughly 145 million live commercial chickens in South Africa at any given time.
Bomikazi Molapo of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said she could not reveal the location of the farm but confirmed it was in Germiston.
Lovell said the virus was believed to have been spread by wild water birds. The H5N8 strain can be spread by humans, droppings, feathers or contaminated water, to name a few.
The virus is not harmful to humans.
