Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says independent poultry and egg producers have not been affected by the bird flu outbreak. The industry however has suffered a severe blow with the agriculture minister currently in talks with role players to make plans to increase supply.

Ntshavheni briefed the media yesterday after a Cabinet meeting.

Although independent farmers are not affected, the outbreak has severely affected the economy and poultry sector.

“The Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Thoko Didiza has met with retailers and the South African Poultry Association to discuss possible solutions in the short and the medium term to increase egg and chicken supply,” said Ntshavheni.

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) there are currently two different strains that are causing avian influenza outbreaks in South Africa, these are influenza A(H5N1) and influenza A (H7N6).

The current influenza A(H5N1) has been ongoing since April 2023.

NICD said the influenza A(H7N6) has been reported since June 2023, with 50 outbreaks to date recorded in poultry farms in the Free State, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West and KwaZulu-Natal and non-poultry birds in Gauteng.

“Internationally, sporadic cases of influenza A(H5N1) infection have been reported in humans, related to outbreaks in birds but infection in humans remains very rare,” it said in a statement.

Globally, the NICD said only eight cases of influenza A(H5N1) in humans have been reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2023, despite large outbreaks in poultry and wild birds across the globe.

“Current circulating strains of avian influenza have not been shown to transmit from person to person,” the NCID stated.

The institute said the risk of transmission from infected birds to humans is extremely low.

Any persons with known or suspected close contact with dead or sick birds, especially birds with confirmed A(H5N1) or A(H7N6) infection, who present upper or lower respiratory tract symptoms such as a cough, runny nose, scratchy throat, or pneumonia and/or conjunctivitis should be investigated, the NICD advised. – SAnews.gov.za