Cape Town - About 1.3 million birds have been culled following the latest outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the province, says the Western Cape Department of Agriculture.
This follows reports of outbreaks at five properties in a small area overlapping the West Coast and Cape Winelands district municipalities.
The department said avian influenza has been detected on a layer farm near George, and the affected 200 000 birds are being culled and eggs are disposed of.
The Western Cape has about 5.7 million birds in production and about 25% of birds were lost.
Western Cape head of Agriculture, Dr Mogale Sebopetsa, has urged producers to be observant: “Producers should continue to be vigilant, investigate any abnormal mortalities, and ensure their poultry do not have any contact with wild birds or their excretions.
“In addition, we advise particular caution when handling or slaughtering potentially infected poultry; gloves, a mask and eye protection should be worn.”
“While the risk of spread of avian influenza to humans is very low, we recommend that anyone who has had close contact with a bird with suspected or confirmed avian influenza, and has developed flu-like symptoms, should go to their local health facility for testing, and inform the staff about possible exposure to avian influenza virus,“ Sebopetsa said.
A farmer in the Paardeberg area who spoke to the Cape Times on condition of anonymity said it was time to implement a vaccination strategy to assist bio-security measures in curbing outbreaks.
“We cannot continue to take the losses ourselves and not try the alternative which is vaccination.
“This issue has a trickling effect down to the smallest of enterprises.
France has agreed to vaccinate and other European countries will follow suit.”
Cape Times