Cape Town - A worrying flare-up of animal diseases is being observed across the province with five highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreaks confirmed in commercial chicken farms, as well as cases of African swine fever (ASF) confirmed in parts of the province, affecting informal pig farmers.
The Western Cape Department of Agriculture is working with its partners to contain outbreaks and limit the impact and spread. Animal owners are urged to be alert for these diseases and to report any suspicion to their local state veterinary office. They should also do everything they can to prevent direct and indirect contact with potentially infected birds.
The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development explained all farms affected by HPAI outbreaks had been immediately placed under quarantine and no live animals/birds and eggs were allowed to be removed from the farm.
Laura Roberts, Western Cape State Veterinarian, said the five farms with confirmed cases of HPAI were close together in the Paardeberg area and were affected in April – approximately 1.3 million chickens died or were culled.
Last week, a sixth outbreak of HPAI was detected near George and 200 000 layer chickens have been affected.
“It is difficult to establish exactly how the virus spreads, but we suspect that it is through direct or indirect contact with infected wild birds and infected excretions. The Paardeberg area seems to be attractive to wild birds that carry HPAI viruses. There is no evidence yet of farm-to-farm spread, but genetic sequencing of the viruses is in progress and may provide more information,” she said.
The department reassured consumers that commercial poultry meat and eggs were safe to eat, but that care should be taken when preparing food to avoid other food-borne pathogens.
Department spokesperson Reggie Ngcobo said: “South Africa is still lucky in that the number of cases we are reporting is significantly less than other countries are reporting, and also compared with those we reported in the previous outbreaks – and this is due to the awareness and the improved biosecurity measures implemented on farms to prevent introduction.”
However, Ngcobo said the spread of ASF was associated mainly with the poor keeping of pigs and feeding kitchen waste that has not been treated to inactivate the virus.
There have been 34 cases of ASF in Cape Town, two in Breede Valley, two in Drakenstein, two in George, two in Langeberg, three in Mossel Bay, two in Saldanha Bay, three in Stellenbosch, two in Swellendam, one in Theewaterskloof, and one in Witzenberg since January 2021.
Roberts added that the majority of ASF cases had been in communal, informal settings and no commercial piggeries had been affected. The disease could cause a high mortality rate and was a barrier to trade, so was a disaster for any pig owner.
Weighing in, Agbiz chief economist Wandile Sihlobo said: “Animal diseases are very worrying, especially as the poultry sector has endured a period of high feed prices that have added financial pressures on poultry businesses.”
“Still, this issue is not unique to South Africa. We see similar cases in Brazil, the EU, and the US. The industry, collaboratively with the government, should work to control the spread of the diseases. I'm hopeful that this will not spread to other regions.”
Sihlobo added that biosecurity/animal health was a serious problem and should be prioritised in South Africa.