South African Poultry Association warns of resurgence of bird flu
General Manager of the association Izaak Breitenbach says this would be catastrophic for the sector.
Chicken / Pixabay: RitaE
CAPE TOWN - The South Africa Poultry Association is warning of a resurgence of bird flu.
It says the virus has the potential to wipe out half of the country’s poultry flocks and would be catastrophic.
General Manager of the association Izaak Breitenbach said this would be catastrophic for the sector.
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"The outbreak that we had in 2023 was disastrous from a number of points of view. It cost the industry 9 and a half billion Rands, and a lot of our companies went under. After they lost all their stock, they couldn't start up the business again."
He added that they are actively monitoring wild birds for any early signs of the virus.
"And we picked up the virus in the wild birds, we are monitoring the birds all the time. Currently, we don't pick up any virus in the wild birds but in 2023 we picked it up a month or two before the outbreak actually took place in poultry that we picked up the virus in the wild birds."